Love and Dreams
by gab000
Summary: Edward and Bella meet on a plane ride to Paris and end up accidentally switching phones.  Both depend highly on their cells.  Obliviously they stay next door to each other at the hotel, not knowing that getting their phones is easy to do.  AH
1. Annoying Airplane

**Chapter 1. Annoying Airplane**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephanie Meyer, so I don't own Twilight or any Twilight characters, however this story plot is my idea. **

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><p><strong><em>Day 1<em>**

~O.O.O~

**_Bella:_**

"I know, I know. Just make sure you have everything planned out. You booked the hotel room didn't you?" I asked for about the hundredth time.

"Of course Bella, just worry about making the flight," Jess said into the phone.

"Okay, okay." I took my stuff out the back of the cab. "I'm getting my luggage out right now."

"Thank you so much, Bells! I can't wait to see you again!" She yelled excitedly. I pulled the phone a good distance away from my ear, so that I wouldn't go deaf. Jessica was always the loud one.

I mumbled goodbye into the phone and stuck it in my pocket. My phone was my life. Everything was on it- from doctor's appointments to contact info to my day planner. I had access to everything I needed on there. I'd be nothing without it.

I went through the metal detectors, inadvertently wincing as they took my phone away. I knew I'd get it back, but I still felt uncomfortable without it.

Minutes later, I was sitting on the plane, going through my phone, seeing if I'd have to reschedule any appointments while I was away. I made a few last-minute changes to my to-do list for when I got there.

I took out my mirror from my purse and applied more lip gloss. The seat beside me shifted and I looked up to see a man with bronze hair sigh and pull out his phone. I was grateful for the window seat, although I wouldn't be worrying too much about the view. I was only hoping that the message to refrain from using our cell phones wouldn't come on the intercom.

The man beside me leaned back in his chair, preparing for the long ride. I sent a few text messages to my assistants, letting them know I was on the plane. Alice and Rosalie had made the plane ride from Seattle to Paris yesterday. I had a few loose ends to tie, so I decided to just catch a flight today.

It was nighttime and there wasn't much to see outside, so I anxiously brushed my thumb over the screen, hoping any new messages had arrived. Still nothing.

A flight attendant came through, alerting everyone of the approaching take-off and reminding people to turn off their phones. I gave her a scowl behind her back as I responded to my new text message.

_Change of plans. We'll pick you up from airport._

_ -Alice_

I sighed, feeling a little better that she could come to get me. I always felt a little antsy when I was in a cab. You're at the complete mercy of this total stranger who you expect to take you to your destination. You don't know anything of his background. He could be a rapist for all you know. And I surely wouldn't trust any foreign taxi driver.

"Are you gonna turn that off?"

I looked up to see the man beside me pointing at my phone. His eyes met mine and I found his green eyes strangely disturbing.

"I wasn't planning on it," I admitted.

"Suit yourself," he said and flipped his phone over on his lap.

A closer look at his phone let me know we had the same touch-screen phone. Mine had a blue case with silver designs on it though. We had the same electric blue color that the phone came in. I opted for the blue instead of the bright red and it seemed that he did too.

The flight attendant came back through as we started to take off and not so nicely ordered me to turn off my phone. When she left, I took my case off and pressed the power button. I rested the phone on my thigh and carefully deposited the case in my purse.

I retrieved my eye mask from my purse put it on. I couldn't sleep without it. With everything settled, I leaned back in my chair and allowed myself to drift into a deep slumber.

"Hey." I was rudely poked in my side. "Hey, um you…"

I groaned and switched sides, only to be met with a poke in my back. "Hey…" I felt rough hands move my phone from my thigh and I immediately sat up with a jolt. "Bella."

I tore my eye mask from my face. I snatched my phone back from the stranger sitting next to me, taking a glance at the screen to see that he found out my name from the welcome screen.

I turned off the phone with a sigh. "Yes?"

"Are you gonna eat those?" He asked.

I glanced down at my seat, vaguely remembering a flight attendant coming through offering cookies. "Yeah," I replied and turned back around in my seat, ready for this flight to be over.

"Sooo…"

Didn't he realize I just wanted some sleep? Did he have to try to make idle chit-chat?

"How come you're going to Paris?" He asked.

My eyes remained closed as I answered, "I'm a wedding planner and one of my old high school friends wants to have a wedding in Paris. So as a good friend, I accepted the offer to be her wedding planner."

"That's nice. I'm overseeing a business project over there." He replied. I turned over, facing him. I noticed he had a sweet smell. Very enticing. I opened my eyes and saw a gold ring on his index finger on his right hand.

What I wanted to say was: _'Does it look like I care? No. It looks look I'm trying to get some sleep here.'_ What I really said was: "That's… nice."

It was silent for a moment and I thought he finally shut up, but then he just had to continue talking. "I'm Edward Masen, by the way."

I sat up in my seat, prepared to tell this guy off so I could get some shut-eye when I saw his genuine face. His green eyes were no longer disturbing. They were mysterious in some way. I couldn't tear my eyes from his. "Bella Swan," I smiled.

"Did you know you talked in your sleep?" A playful smile played at the corners of his lips.

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><p><strong>AN: Review! =) Constructive criticism is accepted but no flames.**


	2. Everybody's Elevator

**Chapter 2. Everybody's Elevator**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.****

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><p><strong><em>Bella:<em>**

'Fifteen minutes until landing.' The voice came on the intercom.

They said to buckle your seatbelts, but I didn't care. I needed to use the restroom. I stood up to step into the aisle. Edward moved his feet into the walkway, to let me through. He inadvertently knocked over the flight attendant who was carrying a tray full of water bottles and cookies. My phone fell from my lap and the flight attendant fell on Edward. It all made a big mess.

In the process, he must've dropped his phone too. He bent down to hand me my phone and I stored it in my pocket before mumbling a thanks.

By the time I came back, everything had been cleaned up. The only visible reminder of the chaos that ensued was Edward's tousled hair.

The flight landed and minutes later I was in baggage claim. I replaced the case on my phone and exited the airport looking for my ride.

I watched as the familiar bronze hair escaped into a cab, and I folded my arms across my chest. I stood up on my tip-toes, attempting to find my two friends, when I heard my name being called from the opposite direction.

"Bella!" Alice yelled. She was always so bubbly and I found myself trapped into a hug from the little pixie. She bounced us up and down in glee. Rosalie did the same, only in a mellower manner.

"How was the flight?" Rose asked.

"Eh… I didn't get too much sleep."

"Cute guy?" Alice raised her eyebrow curiously.

My assistants were my best friends, but I didn't always welcome their nosiness. "More like annoying guy. He kept trying to talk when sleep was the only thing on my brain."

I followed them with my suitcases to their rental car. "Alice! A bright yellow Porsche?"

"What's wrong with it?" Alice asked and clicked the button on the remote to unlock the doors.

"Ostentatious isn't it?" I asked.

Rosalie put my stuff in the trunk and got in the passenger seat, allowing me the back seat for sleeping time. "You know Alice."

By the time I woke up, we pulled up to the hotel. Knowing Alice, who booked our reservations, this was a 5 star building. With my luggage in tow, we entered the hotel. It was glorious. The lobby itself looked like a picture off the pages of a story book.

The ceiling was so high up; a fountain was in the middle of the lobby. The theme was very French. I was impressed.

"Bonjour!" A receptionist greeted.

"Bonjour," Rose learned French all throughout high school and could speak it better than any of us. "Je m'appelle Rosalie. C'est Alice et Bella." I zoned her out after a while. The words made no sense to me anyways.

She must've asked for an extra room key because the woman handed her one and gave a bright smile to me. "Thank you! Enjoy your stay!" She said.

I glared at Rose and made her grab a suitcase. "See Rose, she spoke English this whole time. No need to show off."

She laughed and Alice went to get something from the car. She had Rose and I go ahead and get in the elevator.

"Hold the door! Hold the door!" Someone yelled. I reached out, pushing the elevator doors back as a man entered the elevator. He was built and looked very intimidating with his dark, curly hair.

"Which level?" Rose asked after pressing the 29th floor.

He looked up at her. "Same level." He smiled at her and I could tell they were flirting.

"I'm Rosalie and that's Bella," She introduced.

"I'm Emmett." I noticed he had dimples in both cheeks. When he smiled, he definitely looked less frightening.

I leaned against the wall and they continued to talk. I zoned out again, getting sleepier by the minute.

"Bella!" I opened my eyes. Rose was holding the doors for me. I took my luggage and walked out. Emmett told Rosalie he'd be right back and he disappeared into one of the rooms.

"I'm going to put this stuff down, okay?" I told Rose before going off to find room #47. I passed the room Emmett went into and heard him rummaging around in there.

"Eddie, toss me my phone." I think that came from Emmett.

"Here, and that's not my name!"

"Bella? Your room is over here too?" I turned around to see Emmett with his cell phone in his hand.

I looked up at the room numbers and realized I passed the room. I must've really been out of it. I walked closer to Emmett, finally going in the right direction. "Aww cool! We're room neighbors!" He yelled excitedly.

"We are?" I stopped at our number and looked over to the room Emmett came out of. Room #46.

I escaped into the suite after reminding Emmett that Rosalie was waiting for him.

There were two bedrooms. One had two beds and the other was a single. I already knew the single had been claimed so I threw my stuff on the bed in the double and saw Alice's makeup on the other bed. I was rooming with Alice.

I went into the small kitchen, hoping somebody had gone shopping, but I was wrong.

The view from the sitting area was beautiful. It overlooked the Seine River and almost had a good view of the Eiffel Tower. I sat onto the couch, fully enjoying the scenery when Alice came in.

"Oh Bella! Guess what!"

I sighed and sat up. I always tended to be grouchy when I'm sleep-deprived. "I don't care."

She ignored me. "I met someone in the elevator! His name is Jasper!" She gushed.

"Doesn't everybody?" I replied sarcastically.

She sat on the sofa across from me. "You met someone in the elevator?"

Rosalie walked in on that moment. "Bella met someone in the elevator?" She closed the door behind her.

"No I-" I was cut off by Alice.

"I thought she met someone on the plane."

"She did. So who'd she meet in the elevator?" Rose asked.

"I-" Alice cut me off.

"I don't know that's why I was asking her!" She yelled.

They finally turned to face me. "Bella, who'd you meet in the elevator?"

I blushed bright red. "No! I meant you, Rose. You and Alice met people in the elevator."

"Huh…" Alice huffed. "Well you met someone in the plane and joined the mile high club!"

If I could turn redder, I'm sure I did. "I didn't do anything other than meet the guy and try to sleep!"

"Oh yeah, then what's his name?" Alice asked, inching closer to me on the edge of her seat.

"I don't remember!" I was flustered. "I was half asleep when he told me. Can we _please_ change the subject?"

"Okay, what's on the agenda for tomorrow?" Rose asked. She sat down next to Alice and had a cup of coffee in her hand.

"Um…let me check." I went inside the bedroom, retrieving my phone from my purse's pocket. I turned the phone on and sat back on her couch. It flickered to life and noticed the picture in the background was different. A quote on the welcome screen said:

'_Love can make reality better than dreams._

_ -Elizabeth Masen'_

"Earth to Bella, what is on our to-do list for tomorrow?" Rose asked and waved a hand in my face. Alice threw a pillow at me and I didn't even flinch as it fell to the floor.

"Oh crap," I said and dropped the phone in surprise. "This isn't my phone."

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><p><strong>AN: So what do you all think so far? =)**


	3. Heavy History

**Chapter 3. Heavy History**

**Disclaimer: Twilight? Yes!.. No…**

**A/N: Wow guys. The response was awesome for the first two chapters! Thanks and onto the third chapter.**

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><p><strong><em>Edward:<em>**

I left the cab and met Jasper in the front of the hotel. We were co-partners with Emmett on a big company that we may move here. The hotel looked the same since the last time we'd been here, not that I'd expected it to change.

"Jazz, where's Em?" We walked into the hotel. I mean, the hotel was nice, overlooking the Seine River, but the girls were a nice view too.

Jasper caught me looking and laughed. "The view is awesome. Isn't it? Who knew French girls could be so…"

"Hot?" Emmett came into the lobby. "Yeah I know, dude. So I got permission from the manager to set up the cameras, okay?"

I left Emmett and Jasper to get another room key. "Oh you must be Edward, oui?" The receptionist asked.

I smiled. "Oui. Je m'appelle Edward. Et toi?"

"I speak English, you know. I'm Leah." She handed me the card and gave me a bright smile as I left. I knew I could never be a hotel receptionist. I couldn't fake a plastered smile on my face the whole day and come back the next day with the same oddly cheerful attitude.

The elevator ride was uneventful and I found our room with ease. Sadly, it had already fallen prey to Emmett's dirtiness. Clothes and random cups were strewn about lazily. I pitied the maid who had to clean this up. Either they didn't come today, or worse, they did come through and this is recent trash.

It was a nice suite, if you overlook the foot of clothing that filled the floor.

I was relaxing on the couch when Emmett came running in.

"What's the rush?" I asked as he dug through clothing after clothing.

"I met this girl-"

I should've known by the look on his face. "Of course."

"Yeah so I'm in the elevator. She's in the elevator. And we get out the elevator, and it hits me!" He threw his hands up in the air, mimicking an explosion. "I need this chick's number, you know?"

I sighed and pointed to the couch next to me. "Your phone's right here, Emmett."

"Oh good. Eddie, toss me my phone."

"Here," I threw it. "And that's not my name." I wasn't awfully fond of nicknames, and being my brother, Emmett knew that.

After placing it in his pocket, he just laughed and ruffled my hair. He knew I hated that too. He closed the door behind him when he left the room.

I retreated to my room, finding out the single was taken. Of course. Jasper always wanted his own room. I was never able to claim a room to myself. I always found myself rooming with Emmett.

I took out my phone from my jacket's pocket. All of our blueprints for our new building are on there. That was our main purpose for being here. Overseeing this new building that we're constructing over here. I had an app on my phone that enabled me to make the plans. I had our whole work schedule for our stay planned. I had to check off putting the cameras in place for our to-do list since Emmett had it accomplished.

The phone came on and I was met by the password screen. I inputted my pass code, but it didn't work. After a few more tries, it still was locked. A message at the top of the screen looked awfully familiar.

_'xx Bella xx'_

I remembered that same message from when I stole Bella's phone on the plane. That's how I found out her name, but she took her phone back. So, how did I end up with it?

The door to the room opened and Jasper looked in. "I'm surprised you're not out doing something."

His eyes gravitated to the device in my hands. "You're always working now-a-days. Lighten up."

"Are you forgetting that we're in Paris to work?" I questioned.

Emmett came barreling in, having heard the conversation from the small kitchen, and pushed his way past Jasper. "No. We're here for fun. Work is… let's say a bonus."

I rolled my eyes, knowing his comment was far from the truth. We wouldn't have time to 'be here for fun.'

"Oh Jazz, I met this girl on the elevator." Emmett said.

"So did I!" Jasper and Emmett began talking about some girls from the next room. Apparently, they had more than enough time for fun. Let's just hope our work gets taken care of.

I fiddled with the phone in my hands, unsure of what to do now. Bella could be anywhere by now. How was I supposed to reclaim my phone? I gasped. It had everything on there. Everything.

"You okay?" Jasper asked, eyeing me carefully. "You're not looking too great."

"Eddie's getting sweaty," Emmett commented.

"Yeah, I know…" I stood up unsteadily. "I think... I'm gonna take a walk."

"Hey, while you're at it, get us something to eat." Emmett rubbed his stomach affectionately.

I nodded and put the key card in my wallet. I took her phone with me just in case, safely placing it in my pant's back pocket. Maybe if I search for her, I'd find her in the busy streets of Paris.

Anxiously, I left the suite and headed to the elevator. Surprisingly, the elevator was void of any other people. Everyone else seemed to be meeting people in the elevator, so I was half-expecting to see someone too.

I walked out of the hotel, looking for somewhere to go. An available bench caught my eye.

There wasn't a breeze present, so I took my black hoodie off and draped it across the back of the bench. I needed some quality thinking time.

I wasn't sure why Bella fascinated me as much as she did. I knew that if we ever met again, because surely, she'd like her phone back, that she wouldn't want anything to do with me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a couple arguing across the street. The man looked ready to strike the woman, and the woman was fuming. I winced at the sight.

I carried a heavy weight. My past. When I was younger I thought my parents had a happy marriage, but then the yelling started. My dad would come home drunk every day. He'd start needless arguments with my mother, as she was very concerned about his drinking problem. He would say things like 'It's not your business' when she'd question his habit and 'stay the hell out of my life.' After a while, the beating started and I knew that my mother was only staying in the marriage for me. We never spoke of the things he did to her, and she never wanted me to, in fear of what he could do to me. She was trying to protect me.

One day, my dad came home and he was heavily drunk. I was around ten years of age. My mother put me in the spare bedroom and closed the door. She told me not to leave the room under any circumstances. I knew something was wrong at the time, I heard yelling, this time more and louder than usual. I waited patiently for her to return, but she never did.

That night, despite my mother's warning, I opened the window and snuck out into the night. Later that night, I was safe and sound at my cousin, Emmett's house, and my dad was safe and sound in jail for the murder of my mother.

I couldn't help but feel like I was the one to blame for her death. She told me to stay put in the room, but I left. I didn't know how exactly, but I felt responsible for it all.

Before she died, my mother had a quote, 'Love can make reality better than dreams.'

She told me that she was never in love. That relationship wasn't a real relationship. Apparently, somewhere along the way, the love died. She wanted better for me.

I leaned my head back, against the back of the bench. I didn't like recalling those memories. I'd worked hard to suppress them, keep them put away safe in the back of my mind.

My mother's brother, Carlisle and my aunt Esme took me in as their own. We never discussed what happened. They knew I'd never feel comfortable talking about my mother. That was an untouched subject.

Emmett became like a brother to me. Jasper, our other cousin who lived down the street from Emmett, became a brother to me also. We hadn't been close before. I gained two brothers and parents that loved each other. I even took on Carlisle's last name, changing my name to Cullen; I never had to think back on that last day I saw my mother.

I stood up, feeling I'd been here for long enough. Down the street, I stopped at a fast-food joint and then walked back to the hotel.

"Bonjour!" Leah welcomed with a bright smile on her face. I couldn't bring myself to match her mood, so I just nodded solemnly and proceeded to the elevator.

In the elevator, I pressed the 29th button and felt the elevator steadily rise. I convinced myself to be in a better mood and pretty soon, I started whistling to the elevator music. I glanced at Bella's phone in my hand and I suddenly felt a little lighter. As if some of the weight had been lifted.

The elevator came to an abrupt stop at level 12 and I groaned. I'd been hoping to be alone for this ride. It killed the light mood.

The doors opened and a beautiful blonde walked in. Her hair had a fading tint of red to it. She was dressed in a simple black shirt and a dark-wash miniskirt. She pressed the 21st button and stood to the side. She gave me a slight smile and turned to face the front.

It was silent for a few seconds before she turned towards me again. "Do you speak English?"

"Uh… yeah," I replied.

"Oh thank god!" She took a sip of the coffee from the Styrofoam cup in her hand. "It's like everybody speaks something else, you know?"

I laughed. "Yeah we _are_ in France. People tend to speak French."

She laughed alongside me. "Do you know any French?" She asked.

"I know enough to get around."

"Perhaps you could teach me a few words, yeah?"

The elevator doors opened and she said, "Can I put my number in your phone?" She pointed to the device in my hand.

"Uh… this isn't my phone," I replied lamely. I could only hope she wouldn't take that as a rejection.

"Well it's a good thing I have a pen then, huh?" She fetched a pen from her purse and began writing her number on my hand. As she was writing, she looked up to meet my eyes. "I'm Tanya."

"Edward," I said.

"Alright then Edward, I'll be expecting your call." She smiled and walked out.

"Au revoir!" I called goodbye out to her. Tanya looked genuinely confused for a moment. "Bye," I explained.

Understanding dawned on her. "Oh okay, bye!"

The elevator doors closed defining the distance between us as it rose higher.

A few minutes later, I was back in the suite. I walked in and put the food on the counter. I retreated to my room before any hungry people could ambush me. Through the thin walls, I heard Emmett run into the kitchen then sigh in disgust once he saw our dinner.

"Aww… McDonald's Eddie? I could've stayed in Washington for this!"

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><p><strong>AN: Don't you just love Emmett? Who do you like from the books more, Edward or Emmett? I prefer Emmett. Edward needs to lighten up a bit. I'd like to hear from you all in a review. =)  
><strong>

**Chapters will get longer as we go. Who's ready for another chapter?  
><strong>

**Review!**


	4. Fiancé and Fool

**Chapter 4. Fiancé and Fool **

**Disclaimer: I, gab000 own nothing.**

**A/N: Okay so in this story, there will be a Bella POV and an Edward POV for each of their days. So you can get both of their perspectives.  
><strong>

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><p><strong><em>Day 2<br>_**

xX~.O.~Xx

**_Bella:_**

"Who knew French lattés tasted so good?" Alice was on her fourth cup. We were seated in the hotel lobby's sitting area.

"Alice, they taste just like American lattés. The only difference is that you're drinking it in France," Rose reasoned.

But Alice was stubborn. "Whatever! They must put _something _different in there. Oh Bella, you have to try this!"

I grimaced in response. I could already see the effect it was having on her. "That's okay. We don't need two hyper pixies."

"I'm not hyper!" She yelled with a frown. Then her expression softened and she giggled like a little schoolgirl. "Okay, okay. I'm not _that _hyper! Oooh! Can you measure hyperness? If you could, what would I be? A five? Seven?"

"Ten." I look pointedly at her cup and reached my hand out to take it from her when she growled at me.

"My. Cup." She glared at me and reminded me of a lion ready to pounce at any moment, but then she started giggling madly. "Is hyperness a word?" She downed the rest of the drink and fell back onto the chair in exhaustion.

Rosalie carefully moved the empty cup away from her just in case. Alice's eyes never left Rose's hands the whole time, no doubt wanting to steal her precious cup from Rose. "No more latté for you," Rose warned.

Alice shrugged and closed her eyes. "When is Jessica going to meet us here? I'm uber bored!"

"Didn't Jess say she'd bring her fiancée?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, I hope she would bring him. It's his wedding too." I said.

"Do you think he'll be handsome?" Rose asked, trying to paint a mental picture of the groom-to-be.

"Do you think he'll be smart?" I countered.

Alice laughed, knowing Rose would be more concerned about looks. "Do you think he'll be-"

"Mike?" I asked incredulously. I looked past Rosalie to see the blonde man walk through with Jessica on his arm.

I stared at Rosalie and motioned behind her. She subtly turned, and her eyes were wide when she looked back at me.

"But the last time we saw him was-" Rosalie was cut off by Jessica.

"Rosalie, Alice, and Bella meet my fiancé, Mike." Jessica introduced. We hadn't realized she'd joined our small group.

"Bella?" Mike laughed as if this whole thing were a big joke. His eyes gravitated towards Rosalie and he stared at her for a few seconds before remembering who she was.

"Mike…" I trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"Bella?" Jessica asked, her eyes silently pleading for more details.

"Rosalie…" I looked over to her, hoping she could help me out here.

"Bella?" Rose questioned, wondering what I wanted.

"Alice!" Alice yelled excitedly before collapsing back onto the chair.

"Excuse her. She's had four too many lattes." Rose explained.

Jessica and Mike made themselves at home and took a seat. "Bella, how do you already know Mike?" Jess asked, staying on the subject.

I braced myself for her reaction. "We- uh- dated in high…"

It was silent for a few seconds. "…Oh…" Jessica finally said.

Rosalie finally saved the conversation. "Well why don't we go ahead and discuss your plans? Bella has everything planned out, all the deadlines and everything."

"Actually," I corrected. "This time I'm just winging it off previous knowledge. All the plans were on my phone, which I… currently do not have." I had tried to call Edward on the hotel phone the previous day, but the phone went straight to voicemail. "My phone got switched with this guy I met."

They sat down across from us. Jessica frowned. "Wow! I'd be lost without my phone." She took out hers and sighed while brushing her thumb across the screen. I mentally winced at seeing Jess with her phone. It was as if she did that just to spite me.

"Yeah, tell me about it." I let out a sigh and took out a pen and my notepad. "I need to find out a little information about you all as a couple." Alice sat up as I began speaking, preparing to ask her previously selected questions. "Where did he propose?"

Jess had a bright smile on her face now and seemed really bubbly. "Mike, do you want to tell the story?"

He saw the look on her face and beckoned for her to continue. "Okay!" She was now on the edge of her seat. "I was here on business last month and I got a mysterious letter to go to the Eiffel Tower. So I go, and I get a text from Mike that read, 'Turn around.' So I do and he's like standing there with a bouquet of flowers and a picnic dinner prepared."

I was trying to take as many notes as I could, but she was talking so fast. Alice and Rosalie had zoned out. Alice was leaning back on the couch, possibly sleeping from that caffeine high. Rose just looked bored.

"So then he was like 'Marry me?' and guess what!" She gushed. I must've zoned out too at that point.

I didn't even hear her question. Thankfully Rose did. "What?" She asked.

"I said yes!" She squealed.

Rose and I faked laughter with her jumped around. Alice jumped up at the noise and her hair was disheveled. "What did I miss?" She asked lazily. Mike just leaned back on the sofa, watching the scene take place.

Rose and I have been friends since high school, although she was a year and grade older than me. We met Alice in college and bonded instantly, especially since we were roommates. Somewhere along the way, we met Jessica. Alice and Rosalie weren't as close to Jess as I was.

"Did you get all of that?" Mike asked, after we sat back down. He was looking intently at me.

"Uh... yeah," I said, staring down at my notes._ I would not look up to meet his eyes._ I told myself. "Any plans in mind for location?"

"We're looking… but we were hoping you could help out with that," Jessica explained. It seemed like Jessica was doing all the talking. Mike hadn't said too much.

Jessica continued babbling on and on. I gave Rosalie and Alice a look and they got to writing. I just added an occasional 'yeah,' uh-huh,' and the frequent 'continue.'

Mike shot me a skeptical look, and I smiled back sweetly. He knew I wasn't paying attention. Rosalie raised her eyebrow at me, having seen the interchange. I saw her out the corner of my eye. I sighed in response. Nothing could get past Rosalie, and I, for obvious reasons, didn't want to have this conversation right now. So, I acted as if I never saw her action. Besides, I really needed to focus on this wedding.

"Oh look at the time!" Jessica paused, glancing at her watch. I only looked up because she wasn't talking. I thought she found out that I zoned out. I seemed to be doing a lot of that.

"Oh you have to go?" Rosalie feigned concern.

"Yes. We're having a lunch date." She stood up and gave us all hugs. Mike followed too, obediently.

When he reached in to hug me, I panicked and grabbed his hand. Instead, we slowly shook hands, remembering the familiar touch from so many years ago. I extracted my hand before things could get awkward. I shot him an apologetic smile. He returned mine with a sad one, making me feel guilty.

They left and we retreated to our suite in silence. We had to pry Alice from the sofa in the lobby while she was complaining about dogs eating her shoes. When we entered the room, Rose and I threw her not-so-lightly on the floor, exhausted from her weight. Until now, I'd never known small people could weigh so much.

"So, what's up with you and Mike?" Rose asked as we sat down for coffee. She made Alice a cup too and sat it on the table for when she came out of the bedroom.

The bar stools up against the small counter were very comfortable. The stools were a soft gold-almost beige looking. It was the kind of chair that spun around and sometimes Alice got a little too happy on these things.

"You don't remember high school?" I asked and took a sip of my mocha frappé. I felt like I couldn't function without my coffee at random moments in the day. Rose and Alice understood easily and fell into the same routine of grabbing a cup of coffee whenever we went past the hotel restaurant.

"I do, but I'm sure our dear friend Alice would like to know…" She sang, glancing at Alice who walked out of the bedroom.

"Can you get a hang-over from drinking too many lattés?" Alice questioned. "Because I have a MASSIVE headache! Ugh…" She must've just changed her clothes in our bedroom because she wore her pajamas now for lounging around the suite.

We laughed at her misfortune. She sat down in between us and pushed her cup away. "Do we have any water?" Rosalie pointed her to the mini-fridge and Alice grabbed a bottle from there.

I fidgeted with my fingers as we waited for Alice to sit back down. "Okay spill." She said in the same second her butt met the chair.

"Alright," I said. "Back at Forks High, Mike, Rosalie, and I were friends-"

Rose threw me a glare and I corrected myself. "Okay, Mike and I were friends and Rosalie and I were friends. Rose hated him because she claimed he was annoying. Mike would always ask me out-"

"Ugh!" Rose shouted in frustration. "You're way too boring. It's really a short story." She spun around in her chair to face Alice. "Mike got rejected quite a few times. She finally said yes out of pity. He was ecstatic, and she learned to like him. Then, she dumped him when they went their separate ways for college. The End."

"You left out a few details!" I accused. "Very important ones, if I might add."

"Oh whatever." Rosalie rolled her eyes. She preferred short and simple. I admired that, though. I was the same at times.

Alice was speechless. We waited patiently for her reaction. "So… you and Mike?"

"Yep," I replied.

"Well then…" She said, crossing her arms.

"What?" I was surprised she hasn't exploded yet. "I can handle your reaction," I lied.

"OMG Bella!" I winced at the level of her voice. I hadn't been prepared for this big of a response. "Mike? Are you serious? He still has his baby face!" She sighed and calmed herself down. "Okay, what I meant to say was that you could do so much better."

Rose nodded in agreement. "Bells, you should get back into dating."

I shrugged noncommittally and they stuck their lips out into a pout. "Please!" They pleaded.

"You know I'm not exactly the dating type," I said.

"Give me just thirty minutes, and I promise you'll look wonderful and more self-confident." Alice pouted and pleaded.

"No thanks." I pushed my cup away and retreated into the bedroom before more could be said.

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><p><strong>AN: The shorter the chapter, the quicker I'll update. Leave a review!**


	5. Messenger's Misery

**Chapter 5. Messenger's Misery **

**Disclaimer: Twilight rightfully belongs to Stephanie Meyer.**

**A/N: This chapter is short on purpose. The next chapter will be the longest so far.  
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><p><em><strong>Edward:<strong>_

I took out my laptop from my suitcase in the corner of the room. With Emmett's stuff in here, this room seemed a little cramped. I'd have to do something about that later.

Apparently, Jasper has a date later. No doubt, Emmett's going somewhere too. They really don't understand our purpose for being here. When I reminded them of our work, they just frowned and told me to lighten up. They even called me a work-a-holic. That is so far from the truth. Em and Jazz simply don't show as much focus as I do towards our jobs. They jumped at the opportunity to visit Paris, France. I rejoiced at the opportunity to expand our company.

I tried to call my phone yesterday on Emmett's phone, but it just kept ringing. I seriously needed to find a way to contact Bella. I felt like I was going to go crazy soon without my phone. I'd only been a night without it before and that was only because Emmett hid it after calling me a work-a-holic. I'm not sure why, but I seem to get called that a lot by my brothers.

I checked our company website to see if Emmett had posted the pictures yet. He hadn't, so it was something I'd have to remind him of.

As I was logging off the laptop, a phone rang. I didn't recognize the ringtone, so it took me a while to realize it was Bella's phone. I was unsure of whether to answer it or not. I curiously glanced at it to see who was calling. Some girl named Jessica. A picture of a brunette with curly hair and the thumbs-up sign flashed onto the screen.

I decided to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hey, can I speak to Bella?"

"She's uh… not able to come to the phone right now."

"Oh so you must be the guy who has Bella's phone. I forgot about that. Are you her boyfriend?" Her voice seemed a little too perky and curious.

Before I could say no, she laughed. "Okay well tell Bella I'll be busy tomorrow. We'd have to get together on the next day."

"I'll-uh- pass on the message." I lied. "Now where exactly do you want to meet? So that I could... pass along this message as well." The real reason I wanted this information was because I figured I could _coincidently_ find her there and get my phone back.

"Tell her we'll meet back up at the same hotel," She said. At the hotel? Bella didn't strike me as being a lesbian. I doubted she was. She didn't seem like it. I just needed confirmation.

"And where is this hotel?" I asked, curiosity dripping in my voice.

"In Paris obviously." Jessica wasn't helping one bit. "Oh! Tell her I might have found another place that the three of us can meet."

"Three?"

"Yeah. Bella, pixie, and I."

"Wow… um… okay I'll tell her." I frowned, my mind having automatically gone into the gutters.

"Hey look…"

"Edward," I supplied.

"Yeah Edward, I've got to run. Be sure to pass it on." She hung up before I could even respond.

I tossed the phone back onto the bed and ran a hand through my hair. That settles it. I'm going to find out more about Bella. The curiosity was killing me.

I picked up the phone before remembering that I needed her password to get access to the files in the phone. I tried a few random numbers before realizing there was no way I'd magically get it.

Jasper's door was slightly open as I approached it. Yet, I felt the need to knock anyway. "Come in," He said.

He was sitting on his bed reading a book. Classic Jasper. "Do you need something?" He asked.

"I need your brain," I said convincingly.

"My brain?" He repeated with a chuckle.

"Yes," I replied seriously, "you understand how women think, don't you?" Jasper seemed to understand women's needs and emotions.

"I suppose. Why?"

"Well see, I have this girl's phone and I need to know her password." It sounded wrong even when I said it.

"So you've resorted to stalking this girl?" He crossed his arms and had a smile on his face.

"I wouldn't call it stalking per sé."

"How'd you even get her phone? And shouldn't she be wanting it back about now?"

"That's the problem," I said and welcomed myself to the beige chair in the corner of the room. "I can't give her her phone because I don't know where she is."

He sat the book down and leaned forward, finally showing interest in the conversation, although he wore an amused look. "Let me get this straight. So you stalked this girl, stole her phone, and now you have no idea where she is, so you're taking advantage of the situation and trying to break into said phone."

"Hey! It's a fair switch. She has my phone." I complained.

"And you want my expertise on what exactly?" He asked. Jasper grabbed a few chips from a bowl on the table that I hadn't noticed until now.

"Her password, Jazz. The password." I sighed.

"Did you try random numbers?" He asked.

"Of course. But the probability that it would somehow be the code is slim to nothing." I went over there and took a few chips for myself.

"Have you- talked to her before?" He asked between crunches.

"I met her on the plane and we talked a little."

"Could she have said anything to hint at it?" He moved to get more chips, but I stopped him halfway. My quick hands caught his wrist.

"She was pretty incoherent," I said, chuckling at how cute her lips were when she slept. They extended into an adorable little pout.

"Drinking?"

"Sleeping," I corrected and released his arm.

"Did you at least get some on the plane?" He asked. I punched him in the arm and he just laughed it off. "I'm just kidding!" Jasper held his hands up in surrender.

"It wasn't like that," I defended Bella. She didn't seem the type to do something like that. She was innocent. And I was going to uphold this stranger's reputation.

"Yet you managed to steal her phone?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Shut up and give me some suggestions."

"Did she seem like the kind of sappy girl who'd have something like 'love' as her password?" He asked, cautiously taking another handful.

"No… she seemed grumpy and irritable, especially since she was sleepy. It was cute, though."

"Any possible nicknames?" He asked. Jasper walked over to the mini-fridge and pulled out a soda.

Hmm… Bella Swan. The password was of course only four characters. Could it be 'Bell'? 'Ella'? Possibly 'Swan'? I entered it with no avail.

"You know Eddie," Jasper took a mouthful. "Maybe it's not something specific. It could just be random numbers."

Which brought me right back to square one. I was back to trying random numbers.

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><p><strong>AN: Poor Eddie. All he wants is his phone back. Leave a review!**

**Next chapter will be posted tomorrow.  
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	6. Still and Stuck

**Chapter 6. Still and Stuck  
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**Disclaimer: Have I somehow magically gotten the ability to own Twilight over the past few days? No.**

**A/N: Complications came up so this had to be posted a little late... But hey.. better late than never. PLEASE READ THE A/N AT THE BOTTOM...  
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><p><strong><em>Day 3<em>**

||O|o|O||

_**Bella:**_

Last night, Alice and Rosalie scored dates. Yeah, I know and it's only the third day. Of course Emmett asked Rosalie out and Jasper did the same with Alice. They double-dated and went to this fancy schmancy restaurant that I can't even pronounce the name of.

Emmett told me they could stay here in the suite with me, so I wouldn't be lonely. But to be honest, I was perfectly content with a personal date with my old copy of Wuthering Heights. The classic story could never get old.

He didn't seem to understand that I was okay with them going out. He even went so far as to try to set me up with his brother who apparently single and ready to mingle. Needless to say, I had to let Emmett down gently.

On the bright side, I got to meet Jasper. He was tall with blue eyes and honey-blonde hair. He had an alluring personality and a calm demeanor. I liked him instantly and the fact that he balanced Alice's bubbly self made it all the better.

They came back late last night, but not too late enough for them to give me a run-down of the whole evening. Apparently, Emmett and Jasper treated them to dinner then a _romantic_ walk around the area.

If you ask me, it was a little too sappy. Like something straight out of the movies. Even the dinner at a fancy restaurant was a bit much. Or maybe I'm too simple of a person.

I stumbled out of bed, determined to find out where a brightness suddenly came from, unfortunately interrupting my sleep. My eyes slowly adjusted to the light. Alice was opening the blinds. A big window occupied one of the four walls of the room.

"Alice…" I mumbled before collapsing back on the bed. "Close them… now." I groaned.

"Oh Bella, we need some light in this room. The colors are all wrong. Red on these walls? All I did was brighten the room. I'd hate to meet the people that designed this place!" She rambled on and on and tucked the beige curtains to the side.

I closed my eyes and felt around for part of the comforter. I pulled it and tucked it around me, forming a blanket. It was quiet. _Too_ quiet. Out of nowhere, the bed started moving, rocking me back and forth. An uneasy feeling developed in my stomach. "Al-ice!" I annunciated each syllable and relunctantly opened my eyes.

The little pixie was jumping over me from one corner of the bed to the other. "Bella, wake up!" She sang.

I reached out to grab her ankle, but she jumped nimbly out of the way. "You gotta do better than that to catch me!" She jumped up and effectively performed a flip before landing on the other side. She stuck her tongue out at me.

I felt around me for a weapon. "Ahh!" She yelled as I chucked the remote at her. Alice ducked and lost her balance, causing her to fall.

"Alice…" I groaned. She had fallen on me.

Minutes later I was up, no longer able to sleep peacefully in bed. Alice threatened me with a makeover and I knew sleep was pointless now.

"Coffee me," I said, placing the cup back on the counter.

"Bella..." Alice warned, looking uneasily at the cup waiting for her. "I've never seen you handle three cups before."

"Yes and you've never seen me up before 8:30 either. You caused this by waking me up early." I reminded her. "Now coffee me."

We shared a look and she crossed the kitchen to get the coffee pot.

"Please and thank you!" I added.

She rolled her eyes and returned. "Here's your dang coffee." Alice placed it before me.

"Much obliged," I smiled sweetly.

Alice huffed and climbed into the chair next to me. "When you go back to the room, you'll see your outfit laid out on the bed."

"Of course," I mumbled. Leave it to Alice to already have my wardrobe planned before 8 AM. "No thanks Ali, but I was planning on-"

"You are not getting back in bed!" Alice cut me off.

I nodded obediently and retreated to the bedroom. Sure enough, the clothes were at the foot of my bed. It was a dark purple v-neck and a black pencil skirt. I was grateful to Alice for nothing too fancy or uncomfortable, although I could've done without the v-neck. It dipped a little too far for my taste.

After changing, I walked out of the room to find Alice. She wasn't in the kitchen or living room. I pushed open Rose's door to find Alice rummaging through her suitcase. "This'll do," she said to herself and hid her hands behind her back, approaching me cautiously.

"Bella," She warned. "Now before you argue, you must know that this mandatory."

I watched as Alice removed her hands from their hiding spot to show me Rose's stilettos.

"Alice…" I started backing up. "Those are stilettos…"

"No Bella, these are only five inches."

"Five inches?" I repeated. I ran to the corner of the room and she followed. This started a whole chase scene. We went round and round, hopping over the bed and around the various furniture.

I slipped on the comforter while running and cursed my clumsiness. It had been conveniently pulled halfway off the bed, lying there as if beckoning me to trip on it.

Alice sat on me, trapping me to the floor. "Alice! Get off my butt!"

"Never!" She laughed and attempted to put the heels on now.

My legs flailed around wildly, trying to prevent her from putting the deadly stilettos on. I felt her catch one leg, working down to my foot. "One shoe down…" She said evilly. "One more to go."

She indeed got both shoes on and helped me balance in them for a few minutes.

"Where's Rose?" I asked, finally realizing the suite was void of our other friend.

"Oh, she went out somewhere with Emmett early this morning. I'm not sure when she'll be back." Alice said.

I grabbed my purse and my coffee cup from the other room. Alice's eyes drifted to the purse in my hand. "Where are you going?"

I shrugged. "Out. Don't wait up." Surprisingly, I made it to the door without any casualties.

"Remember we have to meet with Jessica." Alice was now leaning against the doorway into our room.

"Yeah, that's what I figured I'd do. You don't have to come today. I'll just be waiting in the lobby for her. Maybe we'll go somewhere today to conduct the interview."

"Alright," She mumbled and disappeared into the room.

By the time I reached the elevator, it was already coming down. The doors opened and someone was in there this time. The man was tall and tan. His black hair was short and spiky on top, and his eyes were dark brown.

"Hey," He greeted. "Lobby?"

"Yes," I said.

He pressed the button, although it was already lit. The elevator moved quickly and was now at the 14th floor. Then it went slow before coming to a loud stop in between floors.

"Are you serious?" I exclaimed and sighed loudly. The wall became a support as I leaned back against it

The elevator was stuck. Unhappy was really an understatement for me right now.

The man frowned, and his grimace matched mine. With a small sigh, he turned to face me. "I'm Jacob," He said. He came over to the wall I was leaning against.

"I'm annoyed," I replied as I sank to the floor.

"Nice to meet you annoyed." He smirked. "Coffee?" He nodded towards my cup.

"I'm not much of a morning person," I mumbled. The elevator floor was a rich red and surprisingly comfy. It felt so luscious.

"How long do you think it'll take them to figure out something's going on with the elevator?" Jacob asked.

"Hopefully not too long. I have places to be." I thought about Jessica who was no doubt already waiting for me in the lobby.

"I was just going to get some breakfast in the dining room before they closed," Jacob sighed and rubbed his stomach.

I laughed and he looked up at the doors. "You think that if we beat on the doors enough times that we'll break through?"

"No, I doubt it," I snickered. "We're stuck _between_ floors. No breaking through that."

"Well in that case…" He joined me on the floor. "It's a good thing we're not claustrophobic."

"You're on the thirtieth floor?" I asked for idle conversation.

He nodded, and we sat there for a few minutes of comfortable silence. No matter how awesome the carpet felt, the bright red was beginning to make me dizzy. I was already a little uncomfortable because of the situation, but then I remembered the heels.

"I hope you don't mind," I said as my fingers worked quickly to unstrap the death machines. "Stilettos aren't really my thing. My friend only forced me into them."

"Forced?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yes. She literally had to chase me down just so I'd stay still long enough for her to trap me in them." We shared a comfortable laugh. "My name is Bella," I finally said.

"And I'm Jacob, although you already know that."

"Well Jacob, my life officially sucks." I leaned my head back too far and it hit the wall with a thud. "Yep." I sighed.

I took a sip of my coffee before continuing. "I had an appointment scheduled and now I've missed it."

"An appointment? You aren't here on vacation?" He asked, sliding ever-so-closer to me.

"Sadly no. I'm a wedding planner so I'm here strictly on business." I held my cup a little tighter than I should have.

"Really? Where are you from?" Jacob asked.

"Port Angeles, Washington. You?"

"Santa Monica, California. I'm here on vacation."

Ever since I went to Disneyland and took a trip to Hollywood once, I've always loved California. I even vowed to go back when my schedule wasn't so tight. "That is beyond _awesome_. I've been to California once and fell in love with the state. I heard Santa Monica is gorgeous!"

He laughed. "Yeah, it's pretty awesome. Great for tourism, for sure. You know where La Push is, right? I have family over there."

I nodded. "Yeah, it's not too far from where I live. At the least, it's maybe a little over an hour drive."

An idea came to my mind. "Hey Jacob, why don't we just press the call button," I suggested.

"What?" He raised a curious eyebrow.

I explained, "Doesn't every elevator have like a call button or something? You press it in case of emergency." I stood up and walked over to the button panel.

Realization dawned on him. "Can you read French?"

"Good point. But we could just press some buttons until something works…"

He laughed as I pushed every button on the panel. Not even the telephone button worked. And it wasn't as if the power went out because the lights in the elevator still worked.

With nothing else to do but wait, I curled up in the corner and Jacob sighed.

"We could still try knocking. We won't break through, but it may alert somebody that the elevator is stuck." Jacob said. With that, he began knocking on the elevator doors.

After a few minutes of it, I groaned and threw my arms lazily over my ears. "Jacob, I don't see how that will solve anything."

He frowned but came back to my side. "Got a cell phone so we can call somebody?"

"Not really." I didn't have _my _phone so I had idea of how Edward's phone could benefit me. "You?"

"Not really. I guess I left it in the room." He felt around in his pockets.

"Alright well I didn't get enough rest last night. I'm still adjusting to the time difference and having a barely five foot pixie jumping on your bed and allowing light into the room wasn't how I envisioned my morning going. Oh and being locked in an elevator with another person. No offense."

Jacob shrugged. "None taken."

"Alright, so I'm going to take a nap then." My eyes slowly shut and I could only hope today would be one of those days I didn't sleep-talk.

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><p>"Bella…" A voice called my name.<p>

"Oh Bella…" Not now.

"Bella." Should I respond?

"Oww!" I was up now and very pissed off. I treasure my sleep. The carpet of the elevator was comfortable and Rosalie decided to ruin it by sitting on me.

Wait… Rosalie in the elevator?

I opened my eyes. "What's going on?"

"You can get out the elevator now," Rose said and immediately I felt all her weight being released.

I sighed in relief and grabbed the shoes, opting to walk barefoot. Hopefully the floor is clean and no one gets mad.

We were in the lobby now. Rose led me to a sofa to sit on. Out the corner of my eye, I saw Jacob talking to a man, his gold name-tag showed he was the manager. "I'm so sorry about the inconvenience," the manager, Rob, said.

He walked over to personally apologize to me. "I'm sorry about the incident. But we'll give you free room service for the rest of your stay."

"Thanks," I replied. "But that's okay. We're still alive. No harm done. We don't need free-"

"Yes. It _was_ an inconvenience. A few minutes longer, and my best friend could've starved to death or died of boredom. Then you'd have guilt and a law suit on your shoulders." Rosalie cut me off. "And free room service just _may_ be enough to make this better." She shot me a look and I knew what she was doing.

"Yes, of course. Again I apologize." Rob said to Rose, avoiding her glare.

"Good. Then we'll talk about any other compensations, later." Rosalie dismissed him with a wave of her hand, and he quickly walked over to the concierge's desk.

"What was that about?" I questioned Rosalie.

She shrugged. "Who doesn't want free room service?"

I had to agree with that. Rosalie placed my coffee cup in front of me, but it was cold by now. I pushed it away. "Rose, what time is it?"

She took her phone out of her pocket. "Roughly 10 a.m."

"We were in there for over an hour?" I frantically searched the room. "What happened to Jessica?"

"Oh she couldn't make it today. You know, she mentioned telling you or getting someone to pass on the message." Rose informed me. "She didn't tell you?"

"No… why did she-"

"Oh hey, Bella. You're up now." Jacob was now standing beside my sofa.

"Yeah." I hoped he wouldn't mention any sleeptalking.

Rose gave me a curious glance. Jacob shuffled his foot awkwardly back and forth across the carpet. "So Bella, do you think we could hang out sometime non-elevator related?"

Rosalie answered for me. "She'd love to. We're on the 29th floor, suite 47."

I gave her a pointed look and she met mine with an innocent one.

"Jacob, this is Rosalie," I introduced.

The shared a few words before he left to go back to his room, seeing as though breakfast had long since been over.

I had a feeling Rosalie would stay true to her word and make sure we're able to get another free accommodation. She had a terrible habit of manipulating people, either by her beauty or the weight of her glare. In this situation, the glare came in handy, though. Rob was like putty in my best friend's hands. I don't like taking advantage of people like that, but honestly the more I thought about it, the more I thought that Rose could get us free access to the restaurant's bar. That would be nice.

Rosalie helped me up off the sofa and offered to put my shoes back on for me, to which I politely declined. Then, she made some excuse about meeting me back in the room later. She had something to take care of.

The minute I walked through the door, I was jumped by a pixie.

"Oh Bella, Rose came and told me about the elevator! You're alive!" She hugged me as if we hadn't seen each other in years.

"Ali- can't… breath…" I choked out. She giggled and let me go before looking me up and down. Her eyes settled on the shoes that were in my hands instead of on my feet. Her look was one of disgust.

Then her eyes danced wildly as she took in my expression. "Met a cute guy in the elevator?"

I laughed as we hi-fived each other. "You know it!"

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><p><em><strong>Rose POV:<strong>_

"So Emmett, do you think we can set up a camera in the elevator?... You know, for some pictures to go on your company's website?" I asked.

"I already got a few in place, Rosie." Emmett laughed. "But of course we can't show people's faces."

We were looking at the live camera footage for the elevator now.

"Oohh! Hot guy on level 30!" I zoomed in to get a closer look.

"But I'm hotter, right?" Em asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

I pushed him playfully.

"Is that Bella getting on now?" We took a closer look at the screen now.

"Stop the elevator!" I exclaimed with a smile on my face. All we had to do was get a hold of the hotel engineer. It would be _too _easy. "It's matchmaking time."

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><p><strong>AN: The ending Rose POV was supposed to be a little vague. All will make more sense later.**

**As for the introduction of Jacob's character... he and Bella are _not_ going to date... that I know of. I'll have to check my notes again. But remember: This is an Edward/Bella story. So with that being said, press that button and _review_!  
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	7. Construction Company

**Chapter 7. Construction Company  
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**Disclaimer: No… Just no.**

**A/N: My apologies for the late update. But school's on break now so I can solely focus on my stories. And I should be able to update maybe... twice a week now... unless I get too lazy.  
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><p><em><strong>Edward:<strong>_

The elevator was stuck. And I'm on the 29th floor. No way in hell was I walking down all those stairs. I groaned to myself as I contemplated any other options.

I thought back to this morning when my alarm went off at 7 a.m. sharp, I was surprised that I didn't hear any complaining from Emmett's bed. He usually would've been complaining by then. He wasn't fond of his sleep being interrupted. But he wasn't even there. I couldn't imagine any reason for him to already be out of bed except for one person. This Rosalie girl. Maybe he actually liked her. Emmett went on a lot of dates, but I don't think he's ever really liked the girls. Although it's only been a few days, maybe this was different.

I called Tanya shortly after on the hotel room phone (I didn't have any other options) and invited her to breakfast. I was afraid that I called too early and that she wouldn't answer. However, she told me she'd been waiting all night for my call.

I left Jasper a note on the door saying where I was because he was still soundly asleep in his room. I envied that he was able to have a room to himself as my eyes swept over my own room. Emmett's bed had clothes strewn all around it almost forming a ring. His side was still unkept. It was obvious that Emmett and I were close to being polar opposites.

Using the extra time before breakfast, I took all of Emmett's things from my side of the room and stuffed it in the corner into a huge pile. Now the room was a little cleaner. I didn't really have the time, but I would've liked to be here when the maid comes to personally apologize for Emmett's uncleanliness.

But here I was, still standing in front of the elevator. I must admit, the stairs were starting to look very appealing as I stood like a fool in front of the elevator.

A man with a suit and briefcase on came through, pausing when remembering the elevator wasn't working. "You realize it's stuck right?" He pointed to the elevator with a concerned look on his face.

He left without me saying anything.

I glanced at my watch and ran a distressed hand through my unruly hair. I could've found one of the other three elevators, but those were on other sides of this big hotel.

Stairs it is.

I took the stairs three to four at a time, eager to get to breakfast. I was hoping that no sweat would show through my shirt.

My shirt was a sensible, white button-down dress shirt. I wore black slacks and a black tie. This time, I attempted to fix my hair, using Jasper's gel to try to slick it down. Needless to say, my unruly hair was still unruly.

I opened the door, exiting the staircase and rounded a corner. I wasn't exactly sure where the dining room was, but it couldn't be too far away from the lobby, right?

Emmett came out of a room off the hallway, intercepting my path. "Eddie! Hey." He was munching on a pack of cookies.

Eddie? I rolled my eyes as he used my detested nickname again. "Emmett, what are you doing?"

"Eating." He offered me a cookie.

I anxiously looked around us. "Emmett, why are you eating cookies in an isolated hallway?" Despite my words, I graciously accepted the Oreo.

"It's not that isolated." A girl with wavy blonde hair flowing well past her shoulders came out of the room Emmett was in.

"Rosie, join the party!" Emmett yelled, pulling me in for an awkward hug.

"Ugh, Emmett," I groaned, pushing him off. I wasn't a very touchy person.

He then proceeded to ruffle my hair-something that he's been doing a lot of lately. "Eddie, this is Rose."

"Oh, so you're Rosalie." When I extended my hand for a handshake, she surprised me by pulling me in for a hug. She laughed at my facial expression after we broke away.

"What are you doing eating in the hallway?" I questioned. Rosalie stuck her tongue at me and snatched Emmett's pack of cookies and dashed into the room.

"I could ask you the same thing." Em gestured to the cookie in my hand before looking down. "Hey… where's my Oreos?" He was so late.

I nodded towards the door and he scampered off. "Rosie! My cookies!"

Reluctantly, I followed them into the room, leaning against the door frame. "You all are perfect for each other," I muttered.

Emmett was chasing Rosalie around the room. She hopped up on the table and shot her tongue out at him in a childish manner. He laughed and reached up to snatch it when she held it high out of his reach. Now, Emmett was jumping up and down in a frivolously.

I couldn't help but feel that I was lonely. Em and Jazz were right. I usually focus on work. That was I kept forcing myself to try to go out with Tanya. She was stunning, no reason I shouldn't like her. But my mind kept thinking of Bella.

I watched as Emmett got a little too close and Rose jumped off the other side and the process started all over again. Yep. Perfect for each other.

"Ahh!" Rose shouted, frantically wiping her cheek and dropping the Oreos in the process. "You licked me!"

Emmett snatched the pack from the floor, caressing it in an embrace. "You took my Oreos. All's fair in love and war!"

Then it's war, Emmett. War." She seethed.

I just met Rosalie, but I could already tell that it was best not to be around her when she was angry. I backed away slowly, and accidently stepped on something. "What's this?"

"A remote," Emmett said, picking it up.

"Why is there-" I looked all around me. I noticed we were in the electrical room but I didn't see any engineers on duty. There were just a couple of screens around and a few notepads on the table. Emmett's laptop was also in here, but its screen wasn't in my view. "Are you putting pictures of the building on our company website? Why do you all-"

I was violently pushed out the door by Rosalie. She then proceeded to slam it in my face. The door came to a crack after I was on the other side, only revealing her eye. "Leave us to our matchmaking," She hissed.

The door slammed again in my face leaving me confused.

Breakfast was almost over by the time I entered the room. It was a complimentary breakfast and had the basics, although there was a famous restaurant across the lobby. My eyes swept over the area. I spotted Tanya at a secluded table in the back, checking her watch.

"Hey." She hadn't seen me coming, so I'd startled her. "I'm sorry I'm late. I ran into some… complications with my brother." I took the seat beside her.

"No problem. So you have a brother?" She pushed a plate of pancakes, bacon, and eggs my way.

"Yeah. You're not hungry?" I asked.

"I already ate." She smiled sheepishly.

"Well you can't expect me to finish this all by myself." I unwrapped a napkin of silverware, and handed her a fork. "Dig in."

After a few bites of the pancake, she sighed. "I feel under-dressed." She was wearing a pink knit shirt and jeans. "You have on business attire and I chose casual."

"No need to feel that way. I'm only wearing this because of a company meeting later today. I'm an architect, and we're working on a project here in Paris." I nibbled on a piece of bacon because the eggs were no longer hot.

"So you're here on business?"

I nodded. "And you?"

"Vacation. I'm here with my sisters Irina and Carmen."

Must be nice to be on vacation. "I'm here with my brother Emmett and my cousin Jasper."

"Where are you from?" She inquired. Curiosity drew her closer to me.

"Seattle, Washington. You?"

"Chicago. But I'm originally from Alaska."

Between bites of the pancakes, in my best Chicago accent, I asked, "What brought you to the Windy City? My mom was from there."

She laughed lightly. "Fashion. My sisters, and I are models for a fashion agency." She mused. Tanya took one last bite before putting the fork back on the napkin. "I am _officially_ full."

"Really?" I added more syrup to the pancakes, tempting her ever-so-subtly. I gave her a smile. "You know you want to…"

I twirled my fork near her mouth and she laughed. "Edward- no!-" She said between laughter. "I _do _have to stay a certain size to continue my modeling career."

"Suit yourself." I smiled and devoured the last piece.

People started leaving the room and janitors came in cleaning up. "Should we leave?" Tanya's eyes followed mine.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Almost nine." Tanya read her watch before pulling her sleeve back down. "Do you have to go?"

"Yeah." I stood up and straightened my tie. "I have to attend that meeting."

We parted outside of the dining hall and I pulled out Bella's phone. 8:58 a.m. No time to run upstairs to grab my briefcase. Especially since the elevator seemed to still be stuck. They can't get a decent mechanic to fix it? Don't hotels have their own engineers? I didn't see any in the electrical/ utility room where Em and Rose where.

The door to the conference room was closed, so I had to knock on the door. A few seconds later, it opened.

"Bonjour Monsieur Edward. What a pleasure of you to grace us with your presence" Caius said sarcastically, as he stepped aside to let me in. "You are late, though. I wouldn't make that a habit if I were you."

I took my seat at the right side of Caius, our boss. Jasper was already seated across from Caius at the long table, and Emmett was on his left side. Other employees filled the empty seats between us.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's just now 9, Caius."

"Excuse me?"

I pursed my lips and bit back my tongue as he began. "We invested a lot into the Eclipse project, so let's stay on top of that." He pointed to the chart that rested on a stand and began discussing our newest project.

Once finished with the beginning of this conference, he sat back down. Caius clasped his hands on the table in front of him, and frowned before he continued. "Any questions or comments?... No? Okay. Due to my advancing age, I am… retiring."

Gasps filled the room, but I only wore a smirk.

"I've been training my three successors to take over the company. Emmett, Jasper, and Edward." We stood as each of our names was recognized.

"The project that we're working on right now is going to be headed by these three. There isn't much left to do with the construction part, I'd say it'll be done within maybe three more days to a week." Caius turned to us. "So have you come up with a new name for the company yet?"

We all exchanged similar proud looks, and Emmett spoke. "Yes, actually we have. Its-"

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><p><strong>AN: Okay... I can't really release the company name right now so it won't ruin the surprise in the next few chapters.**

**Next update will be within a few days, I believe. So click that button right there and review!**


	8. Sweet Strangers

**Chapter 8. Sweet Strangers  
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**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**A/N: I should really stop promising updates at a particular time... but to make up for this... you win an extra long chapter! Please read the A/N at the bottom!  
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><p><strong><em>.:Day 4:.<em>**

**_Bella:_  
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Work? I'm tired of it. Life? I'm bored with it. Jessica? The bearer of all bad news.

"Bella, I've been thinking about who I want as my bridesmaids," Jessica informed me as she smacked rather audibly on the gum in her mouth.

"Okay." I took out a pencil and my notepad so that I could jot down their names and contact information.

"Angela Weber. Lauren Mallory. Kate Auditore. I went to high school with Angela. She's very nice. And I actually met Lauren at this little boutique I go to back home. I went in there looking for a dress, right? So I see the prettiest aqua blue dress and I got to reach for it, and then there's this other chick eying it. And it's a really funny story because..."

I totally zoned out at that point, but can you blame me? Because Jess loves talking, I knew it would be a while.

I heard a pause in her story and looked up to see her staring at Mike with a bright smile on her face as he walked through the lobby doors. He craned his head searching for us before seeing we were in the same area we met at last time. "Hey babe," he called as he walked over. "I brought some coffee."

Her face lit up. "Is it decaf?"

"Of course," he replied.

"One cream and two sugars?"

"Yes."

"Whipped cream on top?"

"Yes," Mike gritted through his teeth. His scowl evaporated from his face and was replaced by a small, forced smile.

She smiled in gratitude and took the cup from him. When the rim of the cup was just inches away from her mouth, she hesitated. "Hazelnut, right? And French vanilla cream?"

He nodded. "I know exactly how you like your coffee to be made."

Jessica hesitated before bringing it back to her lips and drinking the coffee. Then they seemed to remember my presence. "Oh hey, Bella. Is it still Bella or do you prefer Isabella now?" Mike asked.

"Still Bella," I said. He replied with a curious smile.

"Okay so like I was telling Bella, Lauren and I have been friends for a while now. We even went on a cruise to the Bahamas together last summer. It was like so much fun!" Jessica filled him in on the story.

"Yeah... of course," I muttered. She was really filling me in too. I didn't even recall her mentioning that detail.

"So Kate Auditore is my _Italian_ friend." Jess sounded like she took great pride in her friend's heritage. "I met her through Mike. You see, Mikey here is studying to be a doctor. Kate works at one of the hospitals he interned at. She's a nurse for the children's infirmary. And because she works with kids and I'm a kindergarten teacher, we bonded on that similarity." She drew in a deep breath from speaking so fast. "Do you want to add anything, Mikey?"

He shook his head no and she continued. "So that just about sums it up. I want Angela, Lauren, and Kate."

I usually didn't contact anybody of the wedding party, only having the bride and groom's information, but this case was different. Jess was my friend so I had her permission to have their information just in case.

She gave me the information I needed and I began jotting it down.

"-and Kate's number is (473)- 582- 1074," she said and paused for me to write.

"Kate: ... (473)- 582- ... 1074... Okay." I spoke as I wrote in my barely legible handwriting. Alice always poked fun at my scrawl calling it doctor's handwriting.

"And she lives in Sacramento. Remind me to call her later."

"Sacramento... call later," I wrote.

"And as for the maid-of-honor-" Jess started.

"Maid-of-honor..." I tapped the pen on the notepad, waiting for her to continue.

"Bella Swan."

"Bella... Sw- Whoa what?" I was writing it at first, until it started to click in my mind.

"That is... if you accept..." she trailed off.

I didn't know what to say. I was just a wedding planner. "Jess, I can't be in the wedding. In case you've forgotten, I'm the wedding planner."

"Oh please Bella? You can have Rosalie and Alice take over the whole of this assignment!" Her bottom lip jutted out into a pout. Her whole expression was very Alice-like and I wondered if she was put up to this puppy dog pout. Mike just laughed from the sidelines.

"Yes, but Rose, Alice, and I have a system and I-" I tried to explain why I couldn't accept this, but Jessica cut me off.

"I already spoke with Rose and Alice. They're cool with taking over the bulk of the wedding planning." She bit her lip, waiting for my reaction.

"Jessica, I can't just dump this on them." And I figured Jessica deserved a maid-of-honor who actually listened when she babbled on and on. She probably also needed someone who hadn't been her fiancé's ex.

"Just accept the offer." It was surprisingly Mike who said that.

I sighed. "On one condition. I still get to do my job as wedding planner." Before Jessica could intervene, I added, "I can handle two jobs at once."

She jumped up and hugged me fiercely. "Oh thank you, Bella!" I was nearly suffocating under her embrace. Her phone buzzed and I breathed a sigh of relief as she ran back to get it. The purse was sitting on the leg of the chair.

Out the corner of my eye, I saw Mike crack a smile. Amused bastard. I glared at him and he straightened up in his seat, his smile had disappeared.

"Oh shoot! Listen, Bella." Jessica started walking around the coffee table to sit beside me on the couch. She was texting the whole time, fingers quickly maneuvering over the keyboard, eyes glued to the screen. "I have to run to the airport's post office to pick up a package my mother sent."

"But Jess, we've got to start the planning. I need to know how big of a turn-out you're expecting, the place, the theme, not to mention the _date_..." I ran through a mental list of what needed to be accomplished as I spoke.

"Yes, that's exactly what I needed to talk to you about. The date. How does August 1st sound?"

My mouth gaped open and my eyes were wide. "Jess, that's in less than a month! How the hell are we going to do this in a month? We need more time! We don't even have the place planned. Why August 1st?"

"It's the day we first met a couple of years ago," she said simply.

I pursed my lips to keep from speaking rude things. _Always keep the bride's interests first. Always keep the bride's interests first. _"... Okay. We'll make it August 1st, but we have to get to work."

She smiled and leaned over to hug me again. I sighed. "I need your dress measurements, and we need to set up a wedding registry," I resigned.

"Aww! Thanks Bella, I knew you'd understand." Her phone buzzed again and she rose from the couch.

"But Jess, if I have to get this done by then, we need to start," I said as she picked up her purse.

"Um... just go with Mike. He can tell you whatever you need to know." She hurriedly blew him a kiss and left out the double doors.

"So..." Mike trailed off.

"I need some fresh air." I stood up and walked to the doors. I pushed it open and as I was closing it, it got pushed again.

Mike said, "I'm joining you," as he struggled to keep up with my pace.

"You don't have to." I started walking to the left, and he followed.

"We have to discuss this wedding stuff, don't we?"

I whirled around, pointing a finger in his face. "Stuff? I take my job seriously. Very seriously. These are plans not _stuff_."

As I remained facing Mike, I noticed a familiar flash of copper in my peripheral vision. I turned to see a man across the four-laned street hailing a cab. Even from this far away, I could tell it was Edward. My face lit up as I took note of him. My hands fumbled around in my pockets for my phone.

"Bella... Bella, what are you doing?" Mike asked as I fished out my phone.

"Stay here," I told him as I walked briskly further down the street. I had forgotten that I didn't know his password, so I couldn't even use the phone.

The cab pulled over and Edward was walking toward it. I needed to get his attention and fast. "Edward!" I tried. "Edward!"

I glanced at the red light and walked through the sitting traffic in an attempt to get across the street quickly. Once on the other side, I began to call his name again.

"Edward!" But he had already gotten into the taxi. "Edward!"

This time he turned around in his seat and his eyes met mine curiously. I wondered if he recognized me, but dismissed that thought when the taxi just kept on going and after a point he turned around.

Slowly I turned and walked down the street. I crossed at a crosswalk and went to the other side of the street.

"Bella!" Mike yelled as I walked back over to him. "What the hell were you doing, going out into that sea of traffic?"

People walking nearby openly stared at us, some slowing down as I yelled back at him. "I knew that guy. And what does it matter? That was clearly a _r_e_d _light!"

We glared at each other for a few seconds before he pulled me by my arm, making me walk with him down the sidewalk. "Bella, you're causing a scene here," he gritted through his teeth.

I rolled my eyes and slapped his arm away. "Don't. Touch. Me."

"Okay, fine. Let's just do this wedding planning thing," he resigned.

I cut my eyes at him, and he quickly corrected himself. "I mean- wedding planning. No 'thing' included."

His words made me feel a little irritated. "This is _your_ wedding, you know," I pointed out.

"Actually it's more so Jessica's wedding," he mumbled.

"Excuse me?" I stopped in my tracks and turned to face him. My sudden halt caught him off-guard and he almost plowed into me.

He quickly explained himself, having known me long enough to guess my patience was thinning. "I'm letting her plan the wedding. I don't mind it. This is her dream wedding. Might as well let her call the shots." He sounded genuine as he said this. But of course grooms are always NID. Not into details. It wasn't the first time I'd heard the groom say something like that; I was only surprised this came from Mike.

"That actually sounds... sweet," I complimented.

He feigned hurt. "I _do _have a heart, Bella."

"Really?" I teased, but we both knew my question brought memories. Bad memories.

"Can we sit?" Mike asked. The subject was dropped. I nodded and he gestured to an available bench on the corner.

A dark blue hoodie with black designs was draped across the back of the bench. I picked it up with two fingers. "I'm guessing this isn't yours."

He shook his head. "It's right outside the hotel. Should we take it to the reception desk?"

I examined it closer. The smell was intoxicating. The jacket smelled so sweet, so familiar. "No," I said hastily.

"You think they'll come back for it?" he questioned, his eyes stared at how tightly I was clutching the hoodie.

"I'm not sure, but I'll keep this until someone claims it." Why was I so possessive of a random stranger's jacket? And why did it smell so familiar?

Mike sat down on the bench. "So what? You're going to post signs on all the poles saying 'Missing Jacket'? Do you want to add a picture underneath?" He laughed at his own joke, but I didn't find it too funny.

"Finders keeper's," I growled.

He held his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. Let's get to work."

Grudgingly, I sat beside him, collecting my thoughts. The hoodie was across my lap. "Mike, how did you and Jessica meet?" I asked. I took out my mini tape recorder and pressed the 'record' button.

"Ah, let's see... I was working at a coffee shop in Sacramento a couple of years ago. I was working there for a summer job to help finance my schooling. You know my mom and dad would've pretty much so covered the college fees, but I wanted to be a little independent." His gaze seemed far off, and I think he may have been lost in a memory.

"But Jess would've still been in college, right?" I hadn't known that Jessica spent that summer in California. She told us she was staying with her grandmother in Texas. And around that time, she would've been dating Brad, a guy from our college. However, when she came back for school that fall, apparently she'd broken up with him. I never fully understood the situation.

"Yeah. She had just finished up classes, and was out for the summer." He proceeded to say.

I twirled the scarf around my neck. "You never told me you wanted to be a doctor," I mumbled.

Mike shrugged. "You never asked."

"Well, I-" I started, but Mike cut me off.

He pointed to the recorder in my hand. "Let's stay on the subject, shall we?"

I nodded. Wise choice. I had many questions that I wanted to ask him, but I knew now was neither the time nor place.

"So she came in the café and ordered a hazel nut coffee, decaf of course, with one French Vanilla cream, two sugars, whipped cream on top with a spritz of chocolate flakes." He recited from memory.

"And how do you remember all of this?"

"Easy. I make it for her all the time." He smiled.

I hesitated. "Thats... sweet." A little too sweet.

It was silent for a few minutes. "Are you done?" He gestured to the recorder.

I'd forgotten I was still recording. After pressing the 'record' button again to turn it off, I turned to face him. "I think today's session is over." I was too eager to get away.

We stood up. "Um, tell Jessica that we need to go dress shopping soon," I told him.

"Will do."

With hoodie in tow, I started back walking towards the hotel, only to find Mike was walking right behind me. His hotel was in the opposite direction. "Do you need something?" I asked without looking back.

"Nope. Just being a gentleman and escorting a pretty lady back to her hotel room."

I snorted at that. He's such an ass sometimes. Did he not remember he had a fiancé, who's also my best friend?

He opened the door for me, but I opted to go through the revolving doors. He met me on the other side. "I can find my way to the hotel room without your help," I hissed. Memories of the past came to mind, but I pushed them back.

"I'm only doing my job as a gentleman."

"But I'm a capable woman."

"Bella, stop being so stubborn. Knowing you, you could easily find something to trip on, then you're going to need me."

I rolled my eyes and just to prove his damn point, I tripped on the edge of the rug, falling on my face. Mike's hand was there outstretched. I graciously took it, tugging more than I needed to, and he came falling down too. "I'm pretty sure I can handle myself," I laughed.

Mike was trying to pick himself off the ground as I stood up and grabbed the hoodie. He didn't bother to follow this time as I took the elevator up to the 29th floor.

Emmett and Jasper's door was open as I walked past, so I knocked on the wall as I entered to alert them of my arrival.

"Bella!" Emmett came into the kitchen and enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug. "Que pasa?"

"Nothing much." I smiled.

"Whatcha got there?" He pointed to my hoodie.

"Oh, I found this outside."

"Finder's keepers?"

"Of course!" I laughed. We hi-fived.

"Hey Bells." Rose came in from one of the rooms. "How's Jess?"

I sighed. "We didn't really talk. And why did you keep the whole maid-of-honor situation from me?"

She put a hand on my shoulder. "Well you accepted didn't you? So what's the problem? And why didn't you speak with Jess?"

"I did accept. I guess there's no problem now. And I had to spend most of the time with Mike."

Rose giggled and put her jacket down on the couch. "And how did that go, my dear?"

I feigned death, clutching my throat and sinking to the floor. Maybe I was exaggerating just a little though.

"That bad?"

I nodded. "Who's Mike?" Emmett asked. He was seated at the counter now, leaning over it.

"That's the groom _and _Bella's ex," Rose explained.

Emmett grimaced. "Yeah, well we're celebrating our new promotion that we received yesterday. You coming Bella?" Em asked. He grabbed a beer from the fridge and offered me one.

"No thanks to both. I was in the middle of reading and need to pick up where I left. And I'm more of a wine person. Not beer."

He shrugged and handed one to Rose. "My brother's going to be there..." Emmett winked suggestively at me.

"No thanks Emmett." I turned and began walking out the door before hesitating at the entry. "You're giving your brother no justice. You make him sound desperate. I'm sure he's not that bad."

I was met with their laughter. Em and Rose doubled over from the intensity of their laughter. I rolled my eyes and just went to my room.

Thankfully, Rosalie and Alice went to the market today. There was actually food here, and the hotel was set with a few pots and pans. I knew I had the choice of ordering room service, but I like cooking.

I made myself a grilled cheese sandwich with some local fancy cheese they bought. I couldn't pronounce the name of it, but it sure was delicious. Finally, I kicked my shoes off and settled on the couch to read.

"Bonjour!" Alice startled me within ten minutes after I'd relaxed on the couch. I was so sure I was in the suite alone. I must've been really entranced with this book. "Isn't amour wonderful?" She asked dreamily and laid onto the couch on the other end, taking it upon herself to rest her feet in my lap.

"Amour, Alice? As in love?" She couldn't be talking about Jasper. She only knew him for a few days, three or four at most.

"Oh lighten up, Bells." Alice handed me a glass of what looked to be champaigne. She had one for her too. "Cheers?"

We met halfway and bumped glasses. "You know," Alice said between sips, "You can only read a book so many times." She snatched Wuthering Heights out of my hands to read the back, only to find there was no summary. It was an older copy, so I wasn't sure why she was expecting one.

"It's a classic, Alice."

"Whatever." She huffed and sat the book back into my lap, before sauntering off to our room.

Minutes later, Alice came out of the room sporting a yellow sleeveless number. "You like?" She asked.

"Twirl." She did as I said and the dress flared as she spun around. "Cute," I smiled.

"Just cute? Bella, I'm going for hot!" Alice feigned hurt and ran back into our room. "Oh, where are those dang earrings?"

I laughed and Ali came back out. Her head was cocked to the side as she put on her gold hoop earrings. "Bells, you aren't going to the dinner?"

"No," I said. "I didn't really feel like it."

She scowled and narrowed her eyes. "You're going out with us next time." Alice glared at me until I conceded. "Good. Now what shoes should I go with? Yellow flats or gold stilettos?"

I shrugged. "Stilettos."

Alice nodded to herself, and slipped on the shoes. She grabbed her yellow clutch with gold designs and left.

Rosalie came in a few minutes later to change purses. She already had her dress on. It was an electric blue, one strap dress that accentuated her curves. It looked astounding on her.

She didn't say much and left right after.

And now I was alone in a hotel suite. What to do? I no longer felt like reading at the moment. So I tried something I'd always wanted to do as a child, I jumped on the beds, from Alice's to mine, before remembering this was a 5 star hotel and I stopped. Then I ordered an icecream sundae from room service. I thought about calling a friend up on the hotel phone but the few friends I had were on a different time zone. They were probably at work right now, given that it's 11 a.m. there.

I resorted to reading again, when I heard loud music out of nowhere. At first I attempted to continue reading, but after a few minutes, I was fed up. The bass was clear and resounding in my ears.

I grabbed my hoodie and Edward's phone and walked out the room. I had to make sure my key card was in my back pocket.

When I tried knocking on Emmett's door, I remembered no one was home. I'd have to find the source of the music on my own.

The elevator was pretty empty and it only took a few seconds to get here. I pressed the button for the level above me, figuring I'd have the most success starting there. The doors opened and I tracked the source of the music to suite 3047. Right above us. Great. Just great. Were they even authorized to have a party? Surely other guests were complaining as well.

I knocked lightly. When no one came, I realized it was impossible to hear the knocking over the loud music. This time, my knock was a little forceful.

Someone opened the door. He was tall and tan, reminding me of Jacob. At first, it was just his head sticking out. "Hello." He spoke warily.

"Uh... hi." I didn't really have a rant about the problem prepared.

He scrutinized me before opening the door fully. "I'm Quil." He stuck his hand out so I shook it.

"Bella." I stood there awkwardly.

"...So... you coming?" He asked.

"What?"

"Are you coming inside?" Quil repeated, making it clearer.

"Is this you inviting me in?" I quipped.

He thought it over. "Yeah, I think it is."

I smirked, and he made way for me to come through. "Welcome to the party, Bella!" It was so wild in here, people dancing on tables, people yelling over all the noise, and one random person was only dancing in a small robe.

Quil passed me a glass. Then he whispered, "I promise I didn't let Jacob slip anything in."

I laughed nervously, not quite understanding what he meant, until I saw Jacob amongst the partygoers.

Why I didn't tell them their music was loud, I will never know.

Jacob caught me looking and came over. "Bella!" He gave me a side hug. "I see you met my roommate Quil. Have you met Embry?" Jake looked around, but couldn't seem to find his other friend. "He's around here somewhere."

I frowned, knowing that I shouldn't stay here. I know how I can get around alcohol sometimes and I didn't need a hangover for the morning. I had to meet up with Jess. But then again, maybe alcohol is just what I need right now. Rose and Ali are right. I've been working _way _too hard.

I downed the glass and got another.

Within minutes the room was spinning. I glanced down at the hoodie around my waist. "Hey Jacob," I slurred. "Is this your hoodie?"

He looked down at the table, his eyes lingering a bit longer on my butt. "It's not mine... but I can keep it!" He reached over and loosened the sleeves a little.

"Uh, no that's fine," I said and pulled away. "_I'm _keeping it."

"But it's not yours?..." He asked, I could tell he was confused.

"I found it!" I glared.

He chuckled. "Whatever Bells." Jacob brought his glass to his mouth.

"Hmph... trying to steal my hoodie." I murmured bringing my own glass to my lips. "Wow, this really tastes good! What is it?" I said, gulping down the drink.

"Uhh... didn't Quil tell you?" He started pulling the glass away from my mouth. I bit down on the rim and leaned my head back, sipping the last of the liquid.

"Tell me what? Where can I get more of this?" I said, finally pulling my glass down and pointing at it while I quickly spoke.

Jacob burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" I voiced my curiosity and ran over to the kitchen where Quil was.

"No more vodka for you, Bella!" Jacob said sternly, pulling me back as I was running. I tripped on my own two feet, bringing him down with me and hitting my head in the process. I was about to yell at Jake to get off of me because he's heavy.

But then I caught a whiff of that captivating sweet scent. It stopped me short. "Jacob, do you smell that?" I slurred.

"Um.. smell what Bells?" He slurred back and leaned in to my neck, his nose slightly brushing my skin.

"Edward. And he smells extremely good..." I sniffed out the scent and brought the hoodie to my nose and laid my head on it. "Jake...?"

"Hmm?" He mumbled against my shoulder.

"You're heavy."

"Oh! I'm sorry Bella." He quickly got off from on me, as if realizing what he had just done.

"S'okay." I got up too quickly and the room spun. "Uhh..." I moaned, wishing the dizziness would go away.

"Are you alright, Bells?" Jake grabbed my elbow for balance.

"Eh not really... can I lay down somewhere?" I pleaded with my eyes.

"Sure, sure. You can lay in my bed if you want." He led me to his room.

"I'm just a bit dizzy from getting up so quickly."

"I don't think it's because you got up quickly. I think you're totally drunk, Bells!"

I giggled. "Am not!" I plopped face down on the bed.

"Bells, do you want to call your friends and tell them where you are?"

"I don't have a phone, Jakey," I mumbled against the pillows.

"Here, borrow mine." He set a red touch-screen phone by my head.

"Is it locked, Jakey?" I slurred turning over on the bed and cuddling with the hoodie, the familiar sweet smell washing over me. I realized I needed to try calling my phone again.

"No, I don't lock mine. I'm going back to the party, Bells... I'll check back on you in a bit." He walked out of the room chuckling and saying something about the name 'Jakey.'

"I don't remember Ali- Ali-Alice's number or Ros- Rosi-... Rose's," I mumbled to myself, so I dialed my number and hoped Edward answered.

"Hello?" I heard his voice through the phone.

I laughed. "Hi?"

"Uh... could this be Bella?" He remembered me! I wasn't sure why I was so happy. I knew he must not have recognized me today. Now if only I could remember why I called.

"Maybeee... or purple elephants." I just felt so lightheaded and sleepy.

"Good. Hey maybe we could meet up somewhere because-" I think my thumb brushed over the screen, ending the call, but I wasn't sure. Within seconds, sleep overcame me.

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><p><strong>AN: Yes... I know it's long. But each chapter basically is about what they do that day... and apparently Bella was pretty busy. But review!**


	9. Desperate Dates

**Chapter 9. Desperate Dates  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: SM owns everything.**

**A/N: I tried to get this up last week, but things didn't work out too well... Next chapter is the big chapter where Edward and Bella meet again! Yay!**

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><p><strong><em>Edward:<em>**

"You need a date," Jazz said and tossed me his shirt. We were in the hotel laundry room. I threw it in the washing machine.

I don't _need_ a date," I corrected. "You're just trying to persuade me to find one."

"Is it working?" He raised an eyebrow.

I admitted truthfully, "Not really."

Jasper sighed and handed me some shorts-too big to fit either of us, most likely belonging to Emmett. "Didn't think so," He mumbled mostly to himself.

I focused on putting the clothes in the washing machine. Black polo. Black cargo pants. Navy sweats. Black swimming trunks. Another polo.

"Is that all?" I asked.

He nodded and I closed the small door of the machine. This hotel had a laundry room, but it also had a dry cleaning service. We didn't want to waste any money by sending it to be handled professionally, so we decided to do it ourselves. Nobody else was in the room with us, but it made sense. People that normally stayed here were important people, ambassadors, celebrities, and whatnot. They wouldn't prefer to wash their own clothes. I'm sure they had people for that.

"Does it take coins?" I looked around for a coin slot.

Jasper came over to help. "Edward?"

I was around the back of the machine, still not finding the slot. "Yeah?"

"It's right here..."

I straightened and stood up. "Yeah... I -uh- knew that." It was right next to the load settings on the top of the washing machine.

He laughed at my moment of ignorance and stupidity. Now it was his turn to be stupid.

"Hey Jazz?" I smirked.

"Yeah?" He moved to sit on top of the closest dryer.

"Do you have any quarters?"

His face looked blank. "Is that what they take?"

I put my head in my hands. "Yes, Jasper. You use money to turn it on. Not everything is free."

He rolled his eyes. "Of course I have money. It's in my pants' pocket." Jasper made no move to check his jeans' pockets.

"The jeans you're wearing now?"

He shook his head. "No. The black cargo shorts."

"Jasper?"

"Yeah?"

"Didn't I put those in the machine?"

His eyes went wide and he hopped off the dryer. The lid was being stubborn and chose not to open, so we both tried prying it at the same time. No luck.

A few minutes later, I was sitting on the washing machine, Jasper was on the dryer. "So..." I started. "Now what?"

We'd given up about a minute ago. "Should we... get help?" Jasper asked.

I shrugged and we got off the machines and wandered into the lobby.

Leah was at the main desk. "Bonjour messieurs!"

"Bonjour Leah," Jasper replied with his Texas accent. "We've encountered a problem in the laundry room."

"Is the washing machine stuck?" She asked with a small laugh.

"Yeah. Is that a usual occurrence?"

Leah shrugged and picked up the phone. "It happens sometimes. We need a new set of washers and dryers. I'll have our hotel engineer on top of it."

She placed the phone call and explained what happened to the engineer. "Okay. He'll be headed over there soon. Are you clothes still -uh- in the washing machine?"

We nodded and her forehead creased. "We'll finish up the cycle and send the clothes to your room. Sorry for the inconvenience." Leah smiled apologetically.

I frowned and Jasper was looking down at his phone. "Hey man, Emmett wants you to meet him at some building. He just texted me."

I wrote down the address and name of the building that Jasper gave me. Then Jasper continued his conversation with Leah.

So I left the hotel through the revolving doors and contemplated how I could get there. Finding the closest person, I pulled them aside and asked, "How far is Le Grenier a Pain from here?"

The man just stared at me and I knew he didn't speak English. He slowly backed away before running off. The surrounding people looked at me weirdly, and I sighed. It would be much easier to just hail a taxi or something. At least I could ask for directions. I only needed to make sure the driver spoke or at least understood English.

I walked over to the taxi stand and waited for an available taxi to arrive. Things were apparently done differently in France. It didn't take long for a cab to approach, and I waved my hands in the air to get its attention.

Slowly, the taxi cab came to a stop in front of me. I got climbed inside and the guy turned around.

"Bonjour monsieur. Où ?" He greeted.

I handed him a small sheet of paper with the address. He nodded and put the key in the ignition. I rolled the window down so fresh air would come in. And when I did, I heard my name being called.

I turned around and saw none other than Bella, the girl from the plane... the same girl with my phone, staring at me. I was too stunned for a second to do anything. I wanted to jump out of the car and run over to get my phone back, but we had already started driving away.

"Hey driver! Can you please stop right here?" I called.

"Stop?"

I sighed. I definitely should've gone with an English speaker. "Yes... stop. I need to get out."

"Stop? You said for me to not drive?" He asked.

"Yes. Just pull over."

He looked over his shoulder at me. "Pull over? I... no understand. I am not taking you to 38 rue des Abbesses? Le Grenier a Pain? That will be... 20 euros."

I rolled my eyes. "I'll give you 30 bucks to drop me off here."

He didn't respond for a few seconds, before finally saying, "So I drive?"

I groaned and chose not to answer. Instead, I glanced back over my shoulder and saw Bella disappearing from my vision the further we drove. I didn't remember her looking that beautiful last time. I remembered she was stunning, but my memory did her no justice. I was trying to focus on the fact that I needed my phone, but the main thing I could think about was how beautiful she looked.

She had natural beauty. It didn't seem like she put on a lot of makeup or anything. To be honest, I didn't usually like girls who did.

My eyes remained glued to hers until I could no longer see her. Then I focused on the buildings that we zoomed by. All too soon, the driver turned back around.

"Le Grenier a Pain..." He said and pointed to a small bakery on our right. So Emmett made me stop what I was doing and meet him at a bakery. For some reason, I wasn't too surprised.

I stuffed a little over 20 euros into his hands and got out the car. Emmett was waiting inside for me.

I knocked him upside the head. "You made me come all this way to a bakery?"

He looked shocked. "It's only about 5 minutes away. Calm down. And I only wanted to know if you wanted the tarts or the eclairs..."

I glared at Emmett. "Seriously?"

Emmett nodded. So I sighed. "Eclairs. Can we go now?"

He paid for the dessert and then made me walk the whole way back to the hotel. Once there, Emmett went on upstairs.

I was surprised to find Jasper still speaking with Leah. Upon seeing my return, Jasper smiled a sly smile. He was up to something.

"So Leah... did you all fix the elevator from yesterday?" I asked.

Surprise then realization flashed onto her face. "It was never really broken," She said shyly.

Now I'm sure confusion was shown on mine. "What do you mea-"

Jasper cut me off. "Leah, are you free tonight?"

That question took both of us by surprise. "Because," He continued, "Eddie here needs a date for our dinner." Leah's mouth gaped open in response.

I threw him a subtle punch to the stomach as Leah recovered. "Uh, I already have a boyfriend... named Sam."

The conversation got awkward so we excused ourselves. Jasper laughed his head off as we walked away.

"What the hell, Jasper? You made her feel uncomfortable!" I yelled. We were now in the elevator.

"I was trying to get you a girl! Relax." He threw his hands up in surrender.

"What makes you think I don't already have a girl?" I questioned.

His eyes widened and he looked around awkwardly.

I knew exactly what he was thinking. "Jasper, I'm not gay."

"I never said it," He defended himself.

"But that doesn't mean you weren't thinking it." I countered.

"You're not a mind reader. How would you know?" He half-shouted. The doors opened and Jasper ran.

To clear a few things up, I'm a pretty fast runner. I ran track during high school a little, but I was innately good. I've never been beaten in a race by anyone. Not Emmett. Not Jasper. No one. I don't mean to sound cocky, but I haven't seen any good competition. However, in this case, there has to be an exception. Jasper got a head-start.

I dashed after him, but I was too late. Just as I reached the door, Jasper was closing it. More like slamming it right in my face.

I felt around for my key card only to find empty pockets. "Jasper!" I yelled through the door. "You had the key card."

I heard him breathing through the door. "Yeah and? If I opened this door, you'd probably attack me. You need to calm down some. Trust me."

"And locking me out of my own room will help?"

There was a pause. Then Jasper said, "I don't know... we'll see." It was evident that he nor Emmett was planning on opening this door.

"Okay. We'll be back late tonight. You sure you're okay here?" Rosalie opened the door to their suite, but was still apparently speaking to whoever was inside.

I didn't hear the girl's response, so I used deductive reasoning to conclude that Rosalie was talking to their friend. Emmett had been trying to persuade her to hang out with us. I'd never met her. She always declined our offers. Maybe she was ugly or had social problems.

Rose closed the door to her room behind her and turned around. "Gah! Edward you scared me!" Her hand flew up instinctively to her chest. "What are you doing here?" She stifled a laugh. "Did you forget your key card?"

I rolled my eyes. "They locked me out, alright?"

She laughed and came over. "Step aside. Watch how Rose does it." She knocked four times in a special pattern and in no time, I heard Emmett on the other side.

"Are you alone?" He whispered.

She glanced over at me and smirked. "Yes."

The door opened and Rosalie walked right in. I followed closely after. Emmett glared at me. "You let Eddie in? I thought you were here alone."

"I lied," She smiled.

I found Alice in the kitchen eating one of the eclairs. "Hey Emmett, where is my eclair?" I asked. "We bought three."

Emmett's eyes grew wide. "I- uh- I gave one to Alice, one to Jasper, and I... ate the last."

I rolled my eyes and convinced myself that I'd have to wait until dinner.

I assumed Jasper was in his room getting ready. Everyone else was already dressed so I retreated to my room to change. I really didn't want to share this room with Emmett though. If there was a way out of it, I'd quickly use it.

It was formal attire so I wore a black button-down dress shirt and simple slacks.

I deliberated, pacing back and forth. I sat on the side of the bed, staring at the closet. Then I picked up the hotel's phone and dialed Tanya's number. I made up my mind, I would invite her as my date. Emmett had Rosalie. Jasper had Alice. And I certainly didn't want to be the odd one out.

After three rings, I heard, "Hello?"

"Tanya. It's Edward."

"Oh hey Eddie! You called!" She yelled excitedly. Did she just call me Eddie...? I was second guessing my decision to invite her. No, I doubted it was anything serious. She only called me a nickname. Although I hated it when people called me that.

If I don't even let my own brother call me that, maybe I should say something about it. "Ugh, you don't have to call me that. Just Edward. It's the same amount of syllables." I gave a chuckle to lighten the mood.

"Oh oops! My bad. So what's up?"

"Are you busy tonight?"

I could almost hear the smile in her voice. "What time?"

"Tonight around 8:30? I know it's kind of sooner than later." I stood up and began walking around the room. I always found it hard to remain in one spot while talking on the phone.

"Well what do you have in mind?" She asked.

"A group of us are going out to eat and I wanted to know if you'd join us."

"Of course. What should I wear?"

"Formal."

"Got it. What time should I be expecting you?"

I shrugged. "Is ten minutes okay?" I knew girls usually spent a lot of time in the bathroom, but I hoped that was an okay time. "We have a reservation, so we that's why we have to be there at 8:30."

"Will do. Bye."

The line cut off.

There was no need in trying to tame my hair. I put on my socks and shoes and walked over to the mirror. I didn't leave the room until I was somewhat satisfied with my appearance... minus the hair.

I entered the sitting area to find an argument going on.

"That's really nice Rose, dying all my underwear yellow." Emmett said. "And cutting holes in that suit. Do you realize how expensive that was?" Emmett looked really goofy in his button-down shirt and suit jacket, but besides that he only wore boxers. Yellow boxers.

Rosalie found it all too funny though. She was clutching her stomach from laughter, and the others had similar expressions. "We're in the midst of a war, Emmett. No rules. Just watch your back. This is nothing compared to the next pranks. And I wouldn't trust anyone if I were you." Rosalie warned.

Emmett's eyes shifted, watching everyone in the room warily. "Fine Rose, if it's a war you want, it's a war you'll get. No holding back."

She smirked and shook his hand, as if making a deal. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Emmett," Alice laughed. "You should go change."

"What? You don't want to see me in my underwear? Too sexy for you?" Emmett wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

"Geez Em, show some decency." Jasper tossed Emmett a pillow to cover up. Of course, he didn't use it. Emmett just threw it right back.

"I'm going to change now," He muttered before leaving the room.

Ten minutes later, we were walking to the elevator. It was already open and the same man from yesterday who stared at me strangely for not wanting to take the stairs was on there. They all filed in and I waited on the other side.

"You're not coming?" Jasper asked.

"No. I have to pick up my date. Do me a favor and go ahead and hail the taxi when you get down there. I'll be down soon enough."

"Eddie has a date?" Emmett asked. They all seemed shocked.

Alice wiped her brow in relief. "Good. I didn't want you to be the only one without a date. But you should've went with-"

The doors began to close and I cut Alice off. "Yes I have a date and thanks for the consideration, Alice. Bye."

Then the doors closed all the way. After a few moments, the other elevator doors opened.

I rode down the elevator to the 12th floor and made my way to her Tanya's suite. After two knocks, she opened the door.

"Hey Eddie- I mean Edward. You look hot!" Tanya laughed.

"Thanks. You look nice," I complimented. She wore a tight orange dress that stopped above her knees.

We walked in silence to the elevator. Nothing had been said until we exited the hotel and walked towards the group.

I heard Emmett whistle as he noticed us. "How did Eddie boy snag her?"

"I know right," Jasper stage-whispered. "He's probably paying her to be his date."

I smirked. They thought I couldn't hear them. "Tanya, this is Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie, and Alice. Guys, this is Tanya."

Alice was the first to recover from their shock. She gave Tanya a small, yet forced hug. "Nice to meet you."

Emmett recovered next. He pulled Tanya aside. "Look, I don't know how much Eddie paid you, but I'll give you double to walk out right now!"

She giggled in response. I pulled Tanya out of his grip. "Ignore him, he's a certified idiot," I muttered.

They eventually warmed up to Tanya as best as they could, and after the cab ride, we were seated at the table. I found myself seated in between Alice and Tanya.

We ordered our champagne, appetizers, and main course at once. And around the time we finished the appetizer, I felt someone continually kick my leg in a swinging motion. At first I ignored it, but then it became annoying. My leg came up and kicked Emmett in his calf.

"Ahh!" His knees came up and bumped the table, shaking the drinks on top. People stopped what they were doing at his little outburst and looked over at our table. There was a group in the front of the restaurant providing music in the background. And even the guy playing the harp glanced over.

"What the hell Eddie!" Emmett shouted.

"You kept kicking me," I said.

He frowned. "I thought it was the table, gosh."

The main course had came and gone, and we were now having idle chitchat.

"So you're from Chicago?" Rosalie asked. It was as if she was forcing herself to behave nicely.

"Yes." Tanya replied with a smile. "The Windy City."

"I've been there before, you know," She mused. "It's very... windy." I smirked at Rose's weak attempt to make conversation.

"Tanya. What do you do for a living?" Alice asked. I had to give it to the pixie. Her question was better than any of Rosalie's last few questions. One of Rose's questions was asking what hotel she was staying at, although everyone knew we were in the same hotel.

"Oh I'm a model."

"A model! So you're into fashion. What agency do you work with?" Alice may have actually been interested in this conversation. After all, she loves fashion, shopping, and that sort of thing.

"I'm a Victoria's Secret Angel."

To say I was a little shocked would be an understatement. I'm on a date with one of the best Victoria's Secret models. Wow.

"Seriously?" I questioned.

"Yeah," She clarified.

Emmett stared in astonishment at her. "Wow. Are you sure Edward didn't pay you to come?" Rose pinched his arm and he yelped.

Alice leaned closer to me and whispered, "No offense, but Tanya doesn't seem like your type, you know."

I rolled my eyes, but before I could answer, my phone began ringing.

I excused myself and walked to a secluded area in the back of the restaurant. Alice's eyes followed me curiously.

"Hello?" I answered when I was finally alone.

I heard laughter on the other end. "Hi?"

Whoever this was on the other line sounded like they were wasted. My curiousity got the better of me. "Could this be Bella?"

"Maybeee... or purple elephants." Purple elephants? Seriously? It sounded so familiar. Like something Bella would say. I was almost positive it was her.

"Good... Hey maybe we could meet up somewhere because I'm kind of in need of my phone. I saw you today, didn't I? So I'm guessing you're still in Paris, right?"

There was silence on the other end. "Hello?" I called.

Still silence. "Bella?" I was met with more silence.

I heard the dial tone.

_Call ended._

Did she realize that she called me? She didn't call from my phone. Even though I could tell she was drunk, I knew part of me had been happy to just hear her voice. I suddenly didn't feel like continuing this date.

"Guys, I think I'm going to go back to the hotel. Sorry for cutting it short." I said after I walked back over. I gave Tanya an apology.

Alice eyed me and the phone in my hand and then she tapped Rose. I wasn't too sure what that was about.

"But they're just about to bring dessert out," Tanya whined.

I looked over at Emmett. "You can have mine if you want," I told him.

"You okay, man?" Jasper asked when I tried to walk out.

"Huh?... Yeah sure." My mind was elsewhere though. Thinking about a certain brunette.

I made it back to the suite. First, I moved Jasper's things out of the single bedroom. It was his turn to deal with Emmett's mess and I desperately needed some privacy. Jasper always lucked out, but I'd make sure he got the short end of the deal this time.

I had a maid change out the sheets on the bed. Then, I went straight to bed, suit and all. I struggled to go to sleep with loud music blaring from somewhere. But I just couldn't get my mind off of Bella. I needed to know more about her. And more than that, I needed the password to her phone.

Nobody uses random numbers. There had to at least be a pattern or something to it.

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><p>The clock on the night stand read 2:00 a.m. I was growing accustomed to the time change, but I still hadn't been able to sleep.<p>

I felt like the phone in front of me was mocking me, a constant reminder of my failure in guessing this woman's code. I was losing sleep over her and I'd only seen her once before and briefly today. Slowly I leaned back, resting my head on the pillow.

Bella didn't hint anything while she was awake, but while she was asleep was a whole different subject. I think she said more while asleep than while awake.

Could she have hinted anything while asleep? On the phone she mentioned purple elephants. I must've been on the right track because she mumbled it while on the plane in her sleep too. Or maybe I was just looking too far into this.

I remembered the way she extended her lip into a pout and I laughed quietly, so as not to wake her.

She sighed in her sleep. "No, Ali. No party this year... you know I hate birthday parties. When's my birthday?"

It was quiet for a few seconds before she mumbled, "September 13th … now go away." It was as if she were having a conversation with herself while asleep.

That's about the time I decided to wake her up. But all she mentioned was September 13th, really.

I paused. No way. She wouldn't have hinted it while she was unconscious, would she? It was the best idea I'd come up with so far. And honestly, I've been at this futile mission to figure out her password for over almost four hours.

I reached blindly for the phone in the darkness. I turned it on and tried again with these new numbers. September... 09. Date... 13. 0913.

The message on the screen changed and a picture of a vase of freesias replaced the welcome screen. Despite all odds, I had cracked the code.

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><p><strong>AN:** 'Love and Dreams' has been nominated for 'Best Edward x Bella' in the **_**Everlasting Twilight Awards**_**!****

**Huge thank you to my readers and reviewers!**

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	10. Dangers of Drunk Dialing

**Chapter 10. Dangers of Drunk Dialing  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer, sorry if you thought otherwise.**

**A/N: I'm sorry for not responding to many of the reviews I've been getting. I promise to do better though! And I also had writer's block... That's not much fun.**

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><p><strong><em>Day 5<em>**

||~*|o|*~||

**_Bella:_**

You took care of the documents and fee for having a wedding out of the country?" I asked Rosalie. Usually, I'd try to take care of that, but I was already busy with MOH duty.

"Yes and no. All our documents and forms are in order, but the money compensation needs to be sent by the end of the week." Rose informed me.

We were sitting on the bench that I found the hoodie on outside the hotel. It was just the four of us.

"Okay, I trust that you get that accomplished," I said and checked that off the list. I had made a small checklist for this week on a hotel notepad. It sucks to be phoneless.

"Honestly Bella, I don't understand why you keep towing that hoodie around." Alice complained. She took a sip of her latté. "Whose is it anyways?"

I glanced to the hoodie I wore. It was pretty big for me and it showed. I rolled the black sleeves up a little more. "Leave me alone, Ali. It smells good. See?"

I let the sleeve unfold past my hand and held it up to her nose.

"Mmm..." She smiled. "Okay, you're right. But the smell is kind of familiar."

"You recognize it too?" I asked.

Jessica sat deep in thought. "You know... I talked to your boyfriend the other day. Edward. The guy who has your phone."

Alice almost jumped out of her seat. It was so weird. She spilled a little of her latté in the process on the ground up under us. She looked past me to stare at Jessica. "Did you say Edward?" She asked her.

"Yeah..." Jess said.

I noticed Rose and Alice look at each other curious when Jess mentioned his name. Jessica saw as well. "What?" Jess questioned.

"Oh... nothing." Alice quickly replied.

"Well Edward isn't my boyfriend," I clarified.

"Whatever. So I called him and we talked for a few minutes. Based on his voice, I could tell he was sexy." Jess gushed as if we weren't planning her wedding this very moment.

"You can tell somebody's looks by their voice?" I asked dumbly. They all stared at me with obvious expressions. I think I just got my answer. Jess gave me a sympathetic look and Rose frowned. Alice actually hit her forehead with her palm and muttered something about me not learning anything over these years.

"Bella, that rule always applies." Alice placed a hand on my shoulder.

I ignored her. "When did you speak to him?"

Jess shrugged. "I don't know... maybe three days ago."

"I think I talked to him last night," I said sheepishly.

"No way!" Alice turned to fully face me, criss-crossing her legs on the seat to make room. "Give me the details, girl!"

Apparently, Jacob carried me back to my room around 2:00 a.m. Rose and Alice had been worried sick, especially since I had no phone for them to contact me on. He told them I went to his party, much to their surprise. It was as if they didn't expect me to want to have any fun every once in a while. It only took so long for him to take me back to the room because Jake, Embry, and Quil had to clean up. Rosalie and Alice spent most of the night questioning me on every single detail that occurred at the party.

I woke up to a massive headache (after Ali and Rose had finally left me to get some rest) and was instantly reminded of the dangers of Drunk Bella.

"I know Jacob said he found me with his phone still in my hand. Jake was almost sober at the time and he remembered me saying I called you guys. But when I asked you all if you got the call, and you said no, Jake looked through his recent calls. And apparently I called Edward instead." I explained.

"I thought you didn't even remember his name." Suspicion was written all over Rose's face.

"Does it really matter?" I yelled. I was flustered. Their nosiness reached a new level.

"Geez," Rose muttered. Her hand flew to her heart in mock hurt.

"Somebody's getting a little defensive," Alice sang. Jess nodded in agreement.

I rolled my eyes. "Let's take the focus off of me for a second here, shall we?" I said, uncapping my pen. "What's your budget?"

Jessica leaned forward, interested in the conversation for a change. "Well my grandfather died when I was younger and he gave me his all of his money as my inheritance in the will." She shrugged. "You all are staying in Paris longer than expected. The least I can do is pay for your extended stay."

"Don't you need the money for the wedding expenses?" Rose asked. I reached over Alice's lap to take her latté. Surprisingly, she remained silent as I took a huge sip of the delicious liquid.

"Relax Rosalie. I have enough for both. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't compensate you all for you time and money?" Jess smiled. The thing was though, Rosalie and Jessica weren't exactly friends. But no one bothered to point that fact out.

I'm not used to people wanting to spend money on me. I haven't let my past boyfriends shower me with gifts. I even get a little worked up when Ali and Rose attempt to buy me expensive items.

So I assured Jessica of that. "You don't have to pay for our stay," I told her. "You may need the money from the will later and-" Alice covered my mouth with her hand, successfully cutting me off.

She threw me a glare and quickly said, "No, don't listen to her."

"Yes," Rosalie chimed in. "Feel free to spend your cash!"

I struggled to speak past Alice's hand, but she wasn't budging.

"Alright, that'll work," Jess said, satisfied.

Alice released her hand and I hit her shoulder in frustration. I moved a loose strand of hair from my face. It must've been misplaced during my struggle with Alice. "Okay." I got the girls' attention. "Let's get started. Where to first?"

Alice was the first to jump up. "Okay. First, we're going to hit the boutiques. Before this week is over, we'll have found an amazing dress picked out and ordered for you."

This is what Alice usually does. Alice is in charge of the attire, helping the bride with the theme in relation to the dresses and accessories. She makes sure fitting appointments for everyone in the wedding party are arranged. On the wedding day, she makes sure everyone looks presentable and makes any small necessary changes.

Rosalie takes care of the venue and layout of the reception. She's in charge of decoration and everything else related to the theme.

And me? I'm somewhat like the head-wedding planner. I make sure all forms and documents are in order. I'm the main person who meets with the couple. Most of the time, I'm the one who ends up interviewing them. I also introduce them to my various contacts. Over the years I'd developed many business associates.

When I was in college, I interned with a family friend, Sue, who was known all over the west coast and Olympic region as one of the best wedding planners. She taught me tricks of the trade, in hopes that I'd be a wedding planner after I finished school. Sue had no children, and always viewed me as her daughter, so who better to pass the information to?

Sue helped me get on my feet and start my business. In the last year of college, upon my request, she also mentored Alice and Rosalie. Alice was working on her fashion design degree and Rosalie had majored in interior design and business.

After having taught us everything, she retired two years ago when I was 23 years of age.

Now our business is booming, but to be honest, I'm a little worried about our business in America right now since we'll be overseas for a few more weeks than planned.

It doesn't help that it's the summertime, and most people prefer summer and autumn weddings. We'd have to contact Chelsea back at the office so that everything will be taken care of at our company. We have many wedding planners who work under us. It tends to have its perks because we're going to end up giving the Carter wedding over to Chelsea. We were working on it before Jessica enlisted our help.

Now, we were strolling through the busy Parisian streets, trying not to look like tourists when Alice shrieked.

"Oh my god!" Her hand flew to her heart.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

She started jumping up and down in glee. Random strangers stared at her strangely. They spoke to each other in hushed whispers, pointing towards our friend. Rosalie laughed at something they said. I hung my head in embarrassment, ready to disown my friend at any moment.

"No Bella! Nothing is _wrong. _Everything is awesome! Do you realize that we are standing in front of THE Max Chaoul boutique?" She shook my shoulders viciously.

"No Alice. I"m not even sure what that means..." I said.

She rolled her eyes and dragged me to the store. "We're going inside," She growled, daring us to defy her. Rose and Jess followed wordlessly behind us.

"Bonjour!" A lady darted over to us as soon as we walked through the door. "Vous désirez, mesdemoiselles?"

We all looked to Rosalie, wondering what she just said.

"Je ne fais que regarder," She said fluently, then turned to face us. "Elles parler l'anglais."

The lady nodded in what seemed to be understanding and handed Rosalie a catalog before going to talk to another customer.

"So... what just transpired there?" Jess asked.

Rose shrugged. "It doesn't really matter... Here-" She shoved the catalog into Jessica's hand and sat on the bench in the corner of the room. I joined Rosalie while Alice and Jessica began discussing the dresses.

"Can you hold this?" I gave Rose my hoodie while I sat down and made myself comfortable. "Ugh. Rose?" I muttered, rubbing my temples.

"Yeah?"

"I have a massive headache, and I need to get some sleep in." I leaned my head on her shoulder and at some point drifted to sleep.

"Voulez-vous l'essayer?" I looked up to see the French lady speaking to Rosalie.

I sat up straight. Rose looked over to Jessica. "Do you want to try it on?" She translated.

"Yes of course," She replied.

Rose turned to face the lady. "Oui. Où est la cabine d'essayage?"

We followed the lady to the fitting rooms. I stood awkwardly behind the group as a seamstress came with the dress.

I took in the surroundings, partly out of boredom seeing as though I was useless right now. Gold patterned wallpaper covered the boutique's walls. A bronze vase with soft pink flowers sat on a pedestal in the middle of the room. A ceiling light shined over the expensive piece. The bronze reflected around the room, adding a strange, yet pleasant glow to it.

Bronze. The bronze vase reminded me of Edward's hair.

I pulled his phone out of my pocket, brushing my thumb across the screen curiously. Why had I been charging his phone? It's not like I could've used it. His password blocked any access.

My phone case sat phoneless at the bottom of my purse, a constant reminder of my predicament.

"So that's his phone?" I looked up, startled to see Alice.

"Oh... yeah." I answered. She held out her hand and I gave her the phone.

She stared at the welcome screen and a mysterious smile came to her face. "Interesting... what is this Edward's last name?"

I frowned and blushed. "I'm not sure."

"Well do you-" Alice was cut off by screaming.

"Oh no. No. No. This will not do. Just look at this dress! It makes me look fat, doesn't it, Rosalie?" Jessica had came out of the dressing room and saw her reflection. She now looked to Rosalie expectantly.

Rosalie sighed, no doubt tired of translating. "Elle parle, 'Je me va pas bien. C'est moche! Elle n'aime pas.'"

The saleslady frowned, having heard this. "Désolé. Vous désirez?"

"What other dress were you looking at?" Rose asked Jessica. However, Jess was too busy undressing in the fitting room to notice she was being spoken to.

Alice spoke up. "No thanks. We're done here for now. If we need something else, we'll be sure to return."

Rosalie translated the message and minutes later, we left the bridal boutique. We went window-shopping for a bit.

We rounded a corner and walked past a busy intersection. "Oh look at that!" Alice ran to a magazine stand and snatched up a bridal magazine. She ran back over to us."Mademoiselle! You must pay for that!" The angry newsboy yelled.

Rose went over and took care of it. We sat on the nearest bench as Ali and Jess flipped through the pictures.

"This is the summer season's collection." Alice pointlessly informed me.

"Oh..." I commented.

"Oh my gosh! We should check this boutique out! And I can even make some nice alterations to this dress!" Ali squealed.

While they gushed over the designs, I felt a slight breeze that blew a familiar aroma into my nostrils. It reminded me of the hoodie's smell. The mystery hoodie owner had been here.

"Hey Bella, are you coming with us to the next shop?" Rose asked. I must've zoned out. They were standing already and Jess had the magazine in her hands.

"No. I think I'll pass. Are we near the hotel?" I asked.

Jess shook her head. "We're maybe 20 to 30 minutes of walking distance from it. It would be best if you took the train if you wanted to get back to the hotel. That's what we were going to do when we finish up. The train station is just around the block."

I thanked her for the information and assured Rose and Ali that I'd be fine getting back to the hotel.

"Call us on the hotel phone when you get back home, Bells!" Alice made me promise.

Honestly, I think they worry too much. I navigated through the area and found the station with ease. I checked the routes for the different trains and saw the train wouldn't come for another ten minutes.

I was looking for someplace to sit when I saw the familiar bronze hair. I briskly walked over to the bench the person was sitting at. "Is this seat taken?" I purposely asked, making Edward look up at me. I had to be sure it was him, so I had to see his face. And he was handsome. Apparently, I hadn't paid much attention to his appearance on the plane, and he must've been too far away for me to really look at him yesterday in the car. But he had perfectly chiseled jaws. His bronze hair was in disarray, but it was sexy that way. I wondered how he did it. And he had the greenest eyes I'd ever seen. They were maybe a shade of jade.

"Bella?" He asked and quickly slid over to make room for me.

"It's me," I clarified. It felt so weird to see him right now, and to actually be talking to him in person.

Edward smirked. "You haven't been following me have you? I saw you yesterday running after my taxi. Later you called me on the phone interrupting my dinner. And now you show up coincidentally the same time I'm at the train station."

I blushed, knowing he had some valid points. But I wasn't about to accept defeat. "I'd say that two out of three of those times, you could've been following me. Maybe you knew I'd show up here today. And you possibly could've known I was in the area yesterday, even if I was the one who got your attention."

He laughed then gestured to the space beside him. "Are you going to sit down?"

"Oh," I sat down next to him. Why did I feel embarrassed that he had to ask me that again?

"So... what brings you to the train station?" Edward asked.

"I'm heading back to my hotel." I wasn't about to tell him which hotel I was staying at though. This did seem like our first real conversation with each other. I couldn't believe that I ignored him on the plane. I must've been really grouchy.

But he didn't ask any further questions about that. Instead he said, "Well I'm headed to downtown to check on a few things in relation to my job."

"What do you do?" I found myself asking. Conversation seemed to flow so easily between us, and I liked that.

"I'm an architect," He said. "I've handled the business side of the job and the actual manual labor side of it. And now I'm the manager along with my brother and my cousin."

I stored that information into my memory. He spoke with such pride when he was talking about his job. It must've been something he really enjoyed. I'm the same way with our business, but Alice just thinks that's because I'm a work-a-holic.

Through the speakers of the train station above us, the automated voice alerted us that the next train was to downtown Paris.

"Well, that would be my train," Edward said and stood up.

"Wait," I reached my purse, feeling the bottom for his phone. "Do you have my phone?" I asked.

His eyes widened and he frowned. "Uh... no I'm sorry. I don't have it on me."

I sighed, but handed him the phone anyways. "Keep it. It's your phone. Maybe I can give you my contact information so you can deliver my phone to me or something.

He pushed the phone away. "No. You keep it. Until I give you yours back, of course."

"Alright. Um..." I fished my business card from my wallet. "Take this then. It has my information so you can reach me."

He put the card in his pocket and thanked me. Edward was walking towards his train, but he turned back and said, "I enjoyed talking to you."

I couldn't fight the smile on my face. "Likewise," I replied.

And I did. Edward was easy to talk to and I found myself actually enjoying the conversation. That doesn't happen very often when it comes to guys with me. But Edward was different. And suddenly, I wanted to talk with him more. I really hoped he'd contact me.

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><p><strong>AN: So... they finally met again. Leave a review!**


	11. Beautiful Brown

**Chapter 11. Beautiful Brown  
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**Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight.  
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**A/N: Thanks for everyone who voted for Love and Dreams in the Everlasting Twilight Awards. It's going on to the next round! Please read the A/N at the bottom...  
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><p><em><strong>Edward:<strong>_

"Have you made the meeting agenda for today's conference?" Emmett asked, his voice sounded faraway.

I wasn't sure if he was talking to me, but Jasper wasn't in the room either. I didn't respond at first, although judging by the silence after his question, he had been speaking to me.

"Hmm?" I mumbled.

"Somebody is really out of it today... You're aware that the conference is in half an hour, right?" Emmett asked.

I remained silent, choosing to ignore him.

"Dude!" He tapped my forehead, trying to get a response out of me. "Is anybody home?"

I scowled at Emmett, but my eyes remained glued to the phone in my hand. Was I so much of a stalker to have guessed her password already? I felt a little guilty right now, considering that I just searched through a few of her photos in hopes of finding out more about her.

Emmett snatched the phone right out of my hand. He saw the picture I was looking at and whistled. "Damn. Who is this?"

I rolled my eyes and reached for the phone. Emmett held it out of my reach, and I gave up, not feeling like wrestling this bear of a brother.

"So who is this?" Emmett stared at the picture closely and his eyes widened in shock. It was only a photo of Bella in a black miniskirt and a blue v-neck. But somehow she made it look beautiful. She's beautiful.

I remembered Emmett asked me a question. "Does it matter?" I finally countered.

He nodded, eyes still wide. I could tell the conversation was getting tense. Emmett, being Emmett made a small attempt to lighten the atmosphere.

"You know your girlfriend Tanya won't appreciate another girl's pictures on your phone." He handed the phone back to me, frowning again at the photo when he saw it one last time.

"We're not dating, Emmett, and this isn't my phone." I corrected.

He sighed in some sort of relief. Then confusion spread across his face. "Then whose phone is it?"

"When I was on the airplane, I sat next to a girl named Bella. Somehow our phones got switched and this is the result."

Emmett frowned. "Did you say 'Bella'?"

I nodded and he broke into uncontrollable fits of laughter. "Do you... know where this 'Bella' is... so you can get your phone back?" Emmett laughed in between his words. Leave it to Emmett to act childishly. This was a serious matter, yet Em can't even keep a straight face for a few seconds.

I rolled my eyes and said, "If you're not going to be helpful-" But Emmett cut me off.

"Okay, okay. Have you called her?" He asked.

"She called me last night, but we didn't really talk."

"Whoa!" Emmett laughed. "_She _called you?" He inquired as if he personally knew her and didn't think she'd have the guts or notion to call me.

"She was drunk," I allowed.

"Bella got drunk?" Emmett was beginning to sound strange. I wasn't sure why he was speaking this way. He noticed the expression on my face and sobered up. "Eddie, you realize that she's staying right-" Emmett got cut off by Jasper.

"Do you all realize what time it is?" Jasper glanced down at his watch. He was already dressed for this meeting. Yet, I hadn't even heard Jasper walk in.

He gestured for us to get up, saying we had roughly 15 minutes before we had to make our way downstairs.

As I was passing Jasper on my way to my new room, he bumped into my shoulder... purposely. To say he was mad that I took the single bed was an understatement. So far this morning, he said nothing directly to me- always passing the message to Emmett to give to me.

I applied my shaving cream and had only made one line through the thick stuff with my razor when the hotel phone rang. I let it ring a few more times, hoping Emmett or Jasper would answer it. When it became evident that I had to get the phone, I sighed and put the razor down. There were two phones- one in my bedroom and one in the sitting area.

I picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Eddie?"

"Hey Tanya." I ran a hand through my hair and sat down on the edge of the bed. Hadn't I already told her to stop calling me by that name? Could this perhaps be a sign of some sort?

"So we got tickets for the boat ride on the Seine River. We have an extra ticket, if you want to come." She said. I could practically hear her twirling the phone cord.

I almost accepted the invitation. "Uh Tanya- that sounds nice, but I'm about to go into a meeting."

I could hear disappointment in her voice, and I could imagine the pout on her face.

"Well how about we do something later? You have yet to give me any French lessons."

I smirked and glanced at my watch. "How about 7:00 pm?"

"Alright. It's a date." She hung up before more could be said. A date? I sighed. Sure Tanya was attractive, and I didn't know what guy wouldn't want to be with a model... But I couldn't hide that captivation that Bella held. And as much as I hated to admit it, the brown haired beauty consumed my thoughts daily.

I retreated back into the bathroom and finished up in there. I wore a navy blue dress shirt with gray slacks.

Jasper and Emmett were already in the usual conference room when I entered in. We had this conference room rented for every day of our stay.

Finally, I was able to take my seat at the head of the table. Proudly, I sat down. Caius had already left to celebrate his retirement plans. He'd be back next week, one last time to oversee our progress.

You wouldn't believe how hard it was just to convince Caius to even give us a promotion. He's the kind of guy who values hard work. Caius never gave a promotion to just anybody, let alone giving the whole company over to somebody.

Emmett, Jasper, and I were the closest who worked under Caius and I'm not going to lie... that was mainly because we had connections. My uncle, Carlisle, helped his daughter when she had been diagnosed with cancer at nine years old. Carlisle, a doctor, saw to it that she went through the proper treatments, and after four years, she got better. There were two close encounters where Caius almost lost her, but in the end, Caius felt endowed to Carlisle.

We started this job right out of college, approximately 3-4 years ago. With much persuasion, Caius finally gave in and signed ownership over to us. His constant worry was how young we were. I'm 26 years old and Emmett and Jasper are one year older.

For a little under a year, we were being trained under Caius to take over the company. Our newest project? Paris, France.

Caius had been in the process of moving a branch of our company over here.

We actually designed, built, and oversaw the construction of the hotel we're staying at. We knew the manager, Rob, still and he gladly gave us a free stay here for the whole duration of this visit. Being an architect had its perks.

"We've already contacted the builders, right?" I addressed the group.

One of the workers, John, who was in charge of that branch and assignment raised his hand. Respectfully, he waited until I called on him before speaking.

"Well, we've already begun the project over there. Maybe sometime in the last few months. It's actually almost complete." He informed us.

"Have you updated the building permits?" Jasper asked Nathan who beared that task.

"Yes, of course." Nathan quickly went through his briefcase and pulled out some files and portfolios, passing them over to Jasper.

"Next week, we begin overseeing the work. So be sure to make the proper arrangements," I told them.

Then I handed the floor over to Emmett for his prepared presentation. Jasper passed me a few files. One contained pictures from a timeline of the construction of the building. Another was of our permits and contracts. The last had papers and forms we needed to review and sign.

Emmett brought the projector down and took out his laser pen to begin.

About two hours later, our meeting came to a close. We dismissed everyone. No one else was staying at our hotel because it was too expensive to pay for an entire month's stay.

"Dude, can you check out how the building is coming along? Maybe snap a few shots with your camera?" Emmett asked. We were currently outside of the conference room.

"No problem," I agreed. "And have they taken a look at that other plot of land, yet?"

Jasper shook his head. "Not yet. Do you mind going over there as well?"

I grimaced, but figured that we might as well get this done. So I agreed to do it.

I had gone to the train station and got off a few stops from there. The construction wasn't too far of a walk. The structure was complete and the walls had been finished as well. Minus a few spots, the building looked complete. The main thing that needed to be taken care of was painting the interior. I waved to one of the men going inside the place, and he recognized me and sent a nod.

After taking a few pictures of all around, I walked back to the station. The plot of land we were looking at was something Caius was looking into. He wanted another building for our headquarters. But that was just outside of Paris city limits.

Sighing, I took a seat on an available bench. Not even five minutes had passed, when I felt the presence of somebody else.

"Is this seat taken?" She asked. Her voice was so familiar, I had to look up to see who it was.

"Bella?" I couldn't believe it. Honestly, I should've been trying to give her the phone back, calling every day or so to get in contact with her, but I wasn't ready to. That's why I was so startled to see her there.

Our conversation went pretty easy. I was actually a little disappointed when they announced the arrival of my train.

When she asked for her phone though, I froze. I wanted to get to know her better. I felt this connection with Bella that I'd never felt before. I did have her phone in my pocket, but I didn't want to give it up yet. To put it simply, I wanted another reason to see her again.

But I felt guilty when she wanted to give me my phone back anyways. That showed what kind of person she was. Unbelievably kind and I'm sure Bella is selfless as well.

She gave me her business card with her information. And I definitely intended on using it.

As I started walking to the train, I thought about what just happened, and I couldn't help but tell her one last thing. "I enjoyed talking to you."

Bella smiled at me. God, that smile... It was one of those smiles that lights up your whole face. One thing's for sure, I intended on making Bella smile again... in the near future.

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><p>"First day on the job as owners!" Jasper said.<p>

"Cheers to us!" Emmett laughed. To stick with tradition, we of course had to clink our glasses together. Emmett and Jasper had invited Rose and Alice over. They always had to find a reason to celebrate.

I took a sip of my wine. "It wasn't too hard today, was it?"

Jazz and Em shook their heads in agreement. "Let's not make too many changes to the company in the future, shall we? We don't want poor Caius to find out about it, and regret retiring." Jasper said with a chuckle.

We all laughed, and I took Jasper reached over to the table beside him and retrieved a bundle of files held together by an over-stretched rubber band. "It's all yours, Edward." Jasper handed me the paperwork.

"You all can't do this?"

Emmett looked incredulously at me. "Dude, it's Friday night. We have dates." He put an arm around Rosalie to prove his point.

I sighed. "You all aren't the only ones with plans, you know."

"Tanya?" Rosalie guessed, or maybe it was more of a sneer.

I nodded in reply. Alice's eyes danced with excitement. She was up to something.

"Edward, you _have_ to let me choose your outfit!" She said, batting her eyelashes. Alice had the whole puppy dog pout down. She could put any puppy to shame.

"No thanks," I declined.

"Don't ruin my fun, Edward," Alice warned, giving me a look.

There was no arguing with this pixie, was there?

"Just make it quick," I resigned. She got to her feet and attempted to pull me off the couch. But I became dead-weight to her small figure.

"Grr..." She growled as she tried to heave me off the couch. Emmett laughed at the scene taking place before him and Alice shot him a glare. He quickly shut up. And Jasper knew better than to make a comment.

"Don't just sit there, Rose. Help me out here!" Alice called to Rosalie. With a sigh, Rosalie came over.

I frowned. "Does it have to be now?"

"Yes. Now- pull!" Alice shouted.

With Rosalie's help, they forced me into the bedroom. Alice immediately attacked the drawers of the dresser. Rosalie had the job of watching me, ensuring that I didn't try to flee.

"Why did you and Jasper switch rooms?" Alice asked, while sorting through my things.

"Do you think I really wanted to be in there when Emmett and Rose were on the other bed?" I questioned.

Alice laughed and Rosalie swatted my arm. "Good point," Alice allowed.

"So Edward, I'm enlisting you to help me in the war against Emmett. Do you accept?" Rosalie asked, acting as if this were a real war.

"Is this a draft?" I laughed.

"Yes," Rose replied with no traces of amusement.

"Oh." I wiped the stupid grin off my face. "Must I?"

"Yes."

"Alright. I'm in." I decided. We shook hands on it.

I wondered what ideas Rosalie could have conjured to wage war against Emmett. But then I remembered that Emmett still hasn't gotten revenge. Was Rosalie waiting on his move?

As if to answer my thoughts, Rosalie added, "We need you to be on the inside. You're close to Emmett. See if you can dig up any info. Any implications as to his next move."

"Okay," I agreed.

"Hey Edward, I found the perfect thing for you to wear. The green goes with your eyes!" Alice stood up and came over, handing me a dark green shirt and some jeans. I took them and she eagerly ushered me into the bathroom. I didn't really want her going through my stuff and choosing my clothing. Isn't that what girls do?

I came out about a minute later, and Alice inspected my clothing.

"Here- wear these," Alice commanded, shoving a pair of converses into my hands.

I did as she said and Alice took a seat next to Rosalie on my bed. "Oh, is this your phone?" Alice asked as she picked up Bella's phone from my bedside table.

I debated, wondering how to answer that. "Not exactly," I told her.

"Whose is it then?" Alice turned the phone back on and stared at the welcome screen. I noticed her giving Rosalie a slight nod. What did that mean?

I leaned against the dresser. "Well I met this girl on the plane here named Bella..."

Alice's blue-green eyes shined with excitement. My eyebrow quirked in curiosity. "What?" I asked.

"Oh nothing..." Alice mused, nudging Rosalie. They shared a laugh and I rolled my eyes.

"Don't you all have somewhere to be?" I questioned, ready for them to leave.

"Sheesh," Rose put her hand to her heart, as if offended. "Are you kicking us out?"

Laughing, I showed them the door. Apparently, the guys were in the next room. I still hadn't met Rosalie and Alice's friend from the other room. But as of late, I've been hearing Emmett and Jasper talk a great deal about this mystery girl.

I did about an hour of work, mostly reading through the information, signing my name and leaving space for Emmett and Jasper's signatures. They needed to get serious about this work, especially with the fate of the company on our hands now.

I put the work away, and grabbed my wallet, which now held my keycard along with Bella's business card. I stuffed it in my back pocket and left the room.

Minutes later, I had picked up Tanya and we were back in my suite.

"Of course you know what 'hello' means right?" I asked with a light, nervous chuckle.

"Uh... Bonjour?" Tanya's response was more of a question.

"Yeah. And _au revoir_ means_ 'until we meet again'_." I told her. We were presently sitting across from each other on the couch. A plate of now empty lobster shells sat between us. I had opted for room service and they have an excellent gourmet chef.

"Comment ça va?" I asked.

She looked puzzled. "Hmm?"

"How are you?"

"Oh I'm fine. Thanks for asking." She laughed.

"_'Ça va bien'_ is what you'd say." I mentally sighed. Tanya was pretty serious when she said she didn't know any French.

"Ça va bien," Tanya tried out. "How did you learn all of this stuff?"

I shrugged. "I've been to Paris a few times before. Sometimes you need to know a little something to get around. So on my last visit, I bought this-"

I reached behind the couch and pulled out the book that helped me. "You can have it, if you'd like. I've already memorized the phrases in there." I said. It wasn't like it was a long book, maybe 20 pages. And it didn't even really start until page 5.

"Thanks," She said as she took it. Then Tanya began thumbing through the pages.

"De rien," I replied. "You're welcome."

"How do you say 'beautiful' en français?" She asked, setting the plate down onto the table. She inched forward and sat criss-crossed. Tanya leaned forward, closer to me, resting on her elbows.

"Beautiful means 'jolie'." I smirked at the question she'd asked.

"Jolie?" Tanya repeated, making sure she had it. She took the book from her lap and placed it on the spot behind her.

"Precisely. And the phrase, 'How do you say' means_ 'comment dit-on'_."

She nodded slowly, calculating in her mind. "Comment dit-on _'I want you,'_ in French?"

I gulped. "Je te veux," I responded, happy with myself for responding quickly.

"Hmm..." She mused. "Jay te-"

"No, no," I said. "Je. Let it flow and easily roll off your tongue."

"Jeh?"

I took her chin with my two fingers and she instinctively moved closer to me. Our legs were touching. "Je," I said. I paused waiting for Tanya to repeat it.

"'Je?'" She finally whispered. I still held her chin.

"Yes," I smiled.

"Kiss me," Tanya said, her voice low.

My breath caught. This time, my hesitation was no doubt noticed. "Embra-" I began, but she cut me off by bringing her finger to my mouth effectively silencing me.

"Edward?"

"Yes?" I managed to ask.

"Just kiss me."

Without hesitation, I leaned in, closing the gap between us. I brought my lips to hers.

She attempted to press herself closer to me, and that's when my eyes widened in shock.

"Hey Edward, do you know where the-" Tanya and I parted to find Jasper standing over the couch, eyes in horror. He quickly covered his eyes with his hand. "Oh god! Whoa. Ugh... I'll just -uh- be in there..." He pointed in the general direction of the bedrooms and scampered off.

Tanya giggled, and my eyes were still wide, trying to make sense of what I'd just done.

"Um... do you mind if you leave early?" I asked Tanya. I needed some things to think about. I hadn't intended to kiss her. I didn't even want things to get that far. The more I thought about it... the more I just didn't like Tanya like that.

"Okay. I understand." She said, retrieving her stuff and the book.

Emmett came in through the main door and saw us. He winked suggestively at me and I sighed. He escaped into his bedroom.

Quickly, I showed Tanya to the door, and she retreated back to her suite.

I ran a hand through my hair as I entered Em and Jazz's room.

Jasper still stared emptily into space. "I swear, I'm scarred for life..."

"Yeah," Emmett agreed. "Jasper, how does it feel to be a total cockblocker?" Em laughed when Jasper mumbled something incoherently back to him.

I sat down on the couch, my mind elsewhere. Was it bad that for a second there while kissing Tanya, I was picturing Bella? Her brown hair. That contagious smile that seemed to light up her whole face. Her beautiful, big, brown eyes. That was now my favorite shade of brown. That beautiful brown.

"Are you missing Tanya this soon?" Emmett asked, with a chuckle.

I shook my head. "Not at all."

Without thinking, I pulled the business card that Bella gave me out of my back pocket. It was probably too late to call tonight. But I'll call Bella tomorrow, and arrange to see her again.

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><p><strong>AN: So Love and Dreams went on to the next round of the Everlasting Twilight Awards.**

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	12. Secret Stalking

**Chapter 12. Secret Stalking  
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**Disclaimer: SM owns all Twilight characters that may appear in this story.  
><strong>

**A/N: Here's Chapter 12. Sorry about the wait. And to make up for it, here's a somewhat long chapter wrapped up with a bow, just for you.**

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><p><em><strong>Day 6<strong>_

~.o.~

_**Bella:**_

I threw the phone down onto the bed and sighed in frustration. All I wanted was my goddamn phone back. And I'm sure Edward wanted his too, right? He seemed nonchalant about it yesterday, but that was probably because he didn't have my phone on him. A horrible thought entered my mind.

"God, Ali, what if he lost my phone?" I asked frantically, looking over at Alice who was calmly flipping through a magazine.

"It's just a phone, Bells," She said.

But it wasn't just a phone to me. It was my life. Every day so far, I've tried calling my number in hopes of Edward answering the phone. Why couldn't I get any signal in this forsaken place? Was my room too high in elevation or something? It wouldn't explain why service was available in Jacob's room though. Maybe fate was just cruel.

Alice put down her magazine from in front of her face. "Oh lighten up, Bells! It's a Saturday." She sighed from her bed and rolled over to face me.

"Alice I _need _my phone!" I groaned and stomped my foot in exasperation.

"Bella, did you just stomp your foot?" Alice laughed. "Temper tantrum, much?"

I shrugged and sat on my bed, replacing the phone on my charger. "How would you like it if I took _your_ phone?"

She was silent for a moment, actually pondering over it. "I don't know, but I'm pretty sure I'd still live."

"You know how much I depend on my phone," I complained, and scowled.

"Yeah Bells, I'm surprised we haven't had to rush you to the hospital for a heart attack from phone withdrawal." The pixie joked and clutched her stomach from the hilarity of her snippy comment. When she finally noticed the scowl on my face, she wisened up. Her laughter quickly silenced.

"Okay," She said with a clap of her hands. "I need to do your a favor." I watched as Alice took Edward's phone off the charger and climbed back into her bed.

"What are you doing?" I questioned.

"You just got your new phone. You would've thought the phone was joined to your hip or something, the way you never let it out of your sight. Honestly, I have no idea how the phones managed to get switched. But I do know that I need to separate you from this technology overload. It's not helping you one bit." She replied, shaking her head in mock sadness.

As if on cue, the phone began to ring. Our eyes met and Alice scrambled onto the top of the bed, and away from me.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "I'm not going to try to pry the phone from you, but at least answer it. It could be someone important, like Edward or one of his family members or friends."

Alice glanced at the screen and smirked. "No way," she defied.

We had a stare-down, and I could tell she really wasn't planning on handing me the phone. I leaped up and prepared to snatch the phone out of her hands, but surprisingly, she just handed it to me. However, right when I took it, the ringing stopped. Ordinarily, I would've attempted to call the person back, but I didn't know the password. So all the screen read was, _1 Missed Call._

"Thanks a lot, Alice," I huffed, going back to sit on my bed. She only grinned in response.

I tinkered with the phone again for a few minutes until Alice spoke up. "So, I see you're using his phone to prevent your illness of phone withdrawal?" She asked, raising a teasing eyebrow.

"Whatever Alice. Do you want to at least help me out over here?" I made room for her on my bed. If she was going to be in here while I concentrate, she might as well be put to work. I wasn't going to let her bug the crap out of me instead.

"Help out as in work? No thanks Bella." Alice declined. "You're such a work-a-holic. You need to take the day off. Chill. I mean, there's not much you can do without your phone anyways." She picked up her magazine back up, and as an afterthought, she added, "Besides I'm too busy..."

I watched closely as she appeared to be reading her magazine. She actually seemed really interested in whatever article she was reading. Sighing, I decided to let her be, when I noticed she had the magazine upside down.

I smiled innocently and stood up, taking a seat beside Alice on her bed. "Oh what magazine is this?"

"Vogue," She replied without missing a beat.

"Oh really? Are you sure? Because I didn't know you could read upside-down." I countered.

Her eyes widened and she frantically turned the magazine the right way. Alice laughed a nervous laugh.

"You weren't even reading!" I accused. Though, I had to admit, she was a good actress... or maybe I was just that gullible. "Gosh Ali, I wasn't even referring to work. I wanted you to help me get into his phone."

"This Edward guy?" Alice asked, suddenly seeming interested enough. She sat up and was animated.

I sighed and automatically blushed. "Yes, the dude from the plane."

"You need his password?" She guessed.

I nodded. "I'm just curious. And I really want my phone. So I figured that if I hack into his phone, maybe I'll find a key to contacting him." I tapped my finger on my chin in thought... It's funny how you always wish you could've said or done something differently _after_ the fact. Yesterday, I _should've_ gotten a number to reach Edward at, instead of hoping that he'd call me after taking my business card.

"Oh Bella," Alice cried and pulled me in for an unexpected hug. The pixie squeezed the breath out of me. "You're finally becoming devious! I'm so proud of you, Bells!"

"Alice-" I muttered. "Can't- breathe!" My face was most likely red now.

"Oops," She giggled and stood up, offering me a hand. I took it graciously and we went back over to my bed.

I handed the phone to Alice. We spent the next few minutes in silence as Alice stared at the screen, as if willing the answer to pop up on it or something.

"Bells? What exactly did you and Edward talk about on the plane?" Alice asked. She placed the phone in her lap.

I shrugged. "I wasn't lying when I told you the bulk of it... We didn't really have much of a conversation."

Alice threw her hands up in exasperation. "Work with me, Bells! Give me the details of the conversation. Focus." She stared me in the eyes. Just her facial expression and her demeanor showed that she was really pressing for more information.

"Okay," I agreed. Truth be told, I was never one for details. I always knew from Point A to Point B. I had a plan, and no desire for any smaller details. Edward surely brought something different in me. Just the very thought of hopelessness- being stuck without my phone- made me feel on edge. I always had a plan. Now, I had nothing.

I couldn't think of any of the finer details of Edward and I's brief conversation, but I definitely remembered the gist of it.

"Let's see..." I began unsure of where to start. Then it all began to play out in my mind.

"I was sleeping when Edward woke me up, asking if I was going to eat this pack of cookies. Then he asked why I was going to Paris and he told me something about some project he was working on." I paused, thinking of our most recent conversation. He didn't really hint anything even then. We mostly talked about his job. And I _may_ or _may not_ have been focusing more on him and not the words he was saying. As much as I would've liked to deny it, I was totally swooning over him.

Reluctantly, I brought my mind back to our first meeting so I could continue the story. "Um... he told me his name was Edward Masen and he teased me for sleep talking."

Alice scolded me saying, "You know, that is a _horrible _habit. One time this week, I thought you were really up and we had a five minute conversation while you were sleep talking." She chuckled to herself.

"Seriously?" I laughed. "What could I possibly talk about for that long in my sleep?" I knew my sleep talking was bad, but this was bound to be a new record.

"Um... it was about Edward..." Instinctively, she closed her eyes, expecting the worst reaction.

"Oh..." I simply said.

That earned an incredulous look from Alice. "What? All you say is 'oh'?"

I shrugged. "That's unfortunate that I was sleep talking, but it's a usual for me. So, I'm not sure why you're surprised. I mean, it was about a total stranger. There's not much I could really say about him."

I hoped she wouldn't push it, but she had to prove me wrong. "Why do I get the feeling that you're hiding something from me? Have you spoken to Edward recently?"

My face heated from the blush that resulted. I hated how she knew me so well. "Yes," I confessed. "But let's not get off the subject here."

She glared at me, but complied. "Fine. But Isabella Marie Swan, we will discuss this later... And oh! Bella?"

"Yeah?" I asked, happy to have dodged a bullet.

"If we're getting back to the topic of sleep talking. I feel obligated to tell you that you gave me a three minute description solely on his eyes and hair."

I blinked and if my face could get any redder, it did. "Oh my gosh! Alice, why the hell didn't you tell me this a few days ago, or at least wake me up?"

She shrugged. "At first, I thought it was cute..." Alice gave me the puppy dog pout. "Oh come one, Bells. It's not everyday your best friend beats a new record in sleep talking. Besides, I really did think you were up... until you insulted my bubbliness. Then I threw a pillow at your head, and you quickly shut up."

Alice smiled profusely. I glared at her and chucked a convenient pillow a her for payback. Yet, she caught it in her waiting hands. "Okay, now we really need to concentrate," She mused, laying back on the gold and red comforter. Ali massage her temples tenderly.

I stayed silent all the while, allowing her time to think. I watched as Alice sighed and rolled over onto her stomach after a few minutes. She took the pillow and rested it up under her chin.

"You said his name was Edward Masen?" She asked.

I nodded and she frowned, but I could tell we were finally getting somewhere.

"The person with the quote on his phone is named Elizabeth Masen... Think there could be any relation?" Alice asked. I loved Alice to death, and I appreciated those moments where Alice's wit and perceptiveness came in handy. However, I wasn't sure how that bit of information would help us.

"Possibly," I allowed. "But he seemed too young to be married. Do you think he was married?" I asked in a rush. Part of me was wondering why I seemed to care so much. Thinking back on it, I didn't remember seeing a ring on his finger, I wasn't too sure.

She laughed lightly. "No Bella. I doubt he's married. But it could be a family member. I don't think he has siblings, though."

"How would you know?"

Her eyes widened. "I -uh- it was um... just a guess based on the information you gave me..." She laughed nervously. _What was her deal?_

I thought it over. "Yeah, maybe. So now what? The whole last name thing could very well be a coincidence. Elizabeth Masen could be famous for all we know. Her name does sound a little familiar."

"Really? Maybe she _is _famous. Oh! Bright idea! We should Google her and see what comes up." Her eyes danced with excitement. I knew Alice wouldn't let me refuse, but I could still put up a fight. Especially since the last time I decided to follow Alice's _bright _idea, the hairstylist messed up my highlights and gave me blonde dye on all of my hair. So now you see why I was a bit hesitant on this one, even though I _had _enlisted her help.

"Alice, think about it. We can't just type _'Elizabeth Masen'_ into the search bar. Do you know how many people could have that name?"

She ignored me and went to her nightstand, pulling out her neon green mini laptop. Her name was in bright blue, glittery letters on the back of the screen above the _Dell_ logo.

"Here we go," She muttered, pulling up the internet.

Alice went straight to the search engine and began typing. "Masen with an 'e'?" She asked. I nodded and she pressed enter.

All these links popped up.

"You have to narrow it down, Ali," I told her. Anxiously, my eyes never left the screen.

"Okay, okay. Give me a city." She said.

I shrugged. "Um... Edward and I were both at the Seattle airport. But that doesn't necessarily mean he lives in Seat-"

Alice had already typed in _'Seattle, Washington' _after the name, before I could even finish talking. I sighed, thinking she was way too interested in this.

We went through the links.

_'Elizabeth Masen Charity Foundation.'_

_'Follow Elizabeth on Twitter.'_

There were a few Facebook pages as well.

"Hmm... What's this?" Alice mumbled to herself. She scrolled down to the bottom of the page. There was a link to a news article that included all of our keywords. She clicked it and we waited for the page to show up.

"Alice, what is this?" I asked.

We were brought to a news article form the Seattle Times that dated back around sixteen years ago. A murder of Elizabeth Masen.

"I'm not sure," Alice replied, skimming through the information. Her eyes remained transfixed on the article before us.

"Oh my gosh, Ali. I remember this." No wonder her name sounded so familiar. It was big on the news at the time, and my father is a cop. I was only nine though, but I remembered it clearly. The news story was most likely aired so many times because not much goes on in Forks. Even though this happened in Seattle, it was a big topic of gossip in my hometown.

"This was all over the news back then... Elizabeth Masen was brutally killed by her abusive husband. The husband was able to evade the cops for a few days before he was caught, I think. My Dad even helped chase him down because he had connections in the Seattle Police Department, and he was aware of the situation... The memory kind of stuck with me because I think they had a son around my age. I always felt terrible for the guy, even though I didn't know him. I can't imagine losing my mother or father." I told Alice.

She put the laptop down and turned to face me. "So this Elizabeth woman isn't famous the way we thought she'd be, but what does all that have to do with Edward? And how do we know we have the right Elizabeth Masen?"

Then it all came to me. "Because..." I picked the computer back up and scrolled down the page. _Bingo._ "Edward Masen Jr. is their son."

Alice looked over my shoulder and at the screen.

_'Edward Anthony Masen, whose picture and information is not to be disclosed, was able to leave the house safely...'_

The story continued on, but this was the main thing that I needed my validate my point.

"So there aren't any pictures of Edward... but what about Elizabeth or at least Edward Sr.?" Alice stared at me, a frown set on her face.

We went down to the very bottom of the page, and indeed there was one photo of Elizabeth Masen and a few of Edward Masen Sr. Edward Sr. didn't fit the description, so I looked at the picture of his mother. Sure enough, Elizabeth Masen's physical features reminded me of a certain Edward Masen.

They shared the same facial structure, hair color, and down to the same shade of green eyes.

"This is it, Alice." I whispered. "Elizabeth Masen is Edward's mother."

"We should get more proof," She decided.

I narrowed my eyes at her, wondering what this 'proof' could possibly entail. "What are you suggesting, Ali?" I asked.

"Well..." She took the laptop off of my lap and began to type something into the address bar. "Everybody has a Facebook these days..."

"No Alice!" We fought over the laptop. "It's bad enough we practically stalked his mother. I didn't have to look him up in the first place. I was only curious!"

I knew Alice was happy at my sudden change in behavior, but she had taken things a little too far.

"Bella, maybe you could contact him on Facebook... you know, after you finally make one. Oh trust me on this one!" Alice pleaded. I loosened my grip on the laptop in defeat and she wrenched it from my fingers. "Good decision."

I allowed Alice to search on Facebook for him. She typed in _'Edward Anthony Masen.' _Since Alice didn't know what he looked like, I took the liberty to find him. Easily enough, my eyes met his picture. He was the fourth person on the list.

Interestingly, for his name, it read_ Edward Anthony Cullen_. I knew it was him based on the picture, but why was his last name different?

"What are you waiting for? Click it!" Alice commanded excitedly.

I clicked it and it took me to his profile. His profile picture was now enlarged and Edward looked even better than I remembered. I found myself lost in his piercing green eyes again, and it was only a picture. He was beyond handsome, and through his shirt, you could see his clearly defined chest.

I tried to recover from my stupor, but Alice caught me ogling. "Bella, do you have a hidden infatuation for Edward?" She teased, but was still expecting an answer.

"No. But I can appreciate a hot guy when I see one. This is simply me admiring his looks. I don't even know him." I argued.

She shrugged. "Okay. You can keep telling yourself that." Alice suddenly put back on her cheery attitude. "Oh my gosh! Click his profile information."

Alice had to show me where the button was. Searching under his information, I found out his full name is Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. That made sense.

"I just realized something... How are we supposed to figure out his password from this?" I questioned.

"I was hoping we'd get some kind of inspiration. Yet, all we've found out so far is that his initials are E.A.M.C. Oh! And his birthday is June 20th. You used your birthday for your password. Maybe he did the same. And what about his birth year? Can we use that?" Alice said in a rush.

I took his phone and attempted to put in 1985, his birthyear. _Nothing_. I tried his month and day. _Still nothing._

She saw my frustration. "Have you tried his initials?"

"Initials?" I repeated.

"Sure. He has four initials. The password has four numbers." _Good point. _

I inputted the numbers in accord with the letters, E.A.M.C. _3262. _My eyes widened. "Ali, it worked! You're a genius."

She laughed and nodded. "I know, I know. Now give me fifty bucks."

"In your dreams, pixie."

"Whoa, what worked?" At that moment, Emmett busted into the room with a plate of food. Seeing all that food made my stomach growl.

"Nothing, Emmett," Alice ended the subject. She returned her laptop to her nightstand's drawer.

I glanced at Edward's phone for the time. It was already 3 p.m.! Did we seriously spent five hours figuring out his password? No wonder my stomach was growling.

"Em, what's on the plate?" I asked, hoping he was feeling generous today. I knew that we'd only known him and Jasper for a week, but we were already great friends. It seemed like we had all known each other for a long time.

"Escargot." He smiled.

I acted like I was going to vomit, to show him how I felt about escargot. "Nevermind," I quickly replied. "I'd rather not eat snails."

Em shrugged and offered Alice one. When she declined, he sighed. "When in France, eat as the French. You don't know what you're missing."

I ignored Emmett for a moment and followed my nose to the smell of food in the next room. Jazz and Rose were taking food out of a paper bag.

Alice was right behind me, and she whispered, "Let's keep this whole secret to ourselves for now, Bella."

I snorted in response. "The secret that we stalked a stranger and his mother?"

"See, this is why we can't tell anyone. When you put it that way, it sounds wrong. We simply did some research on Edward." She put her hands on her hips, daring me to correct her.

Just then, Emmett came in and passed me a container. "Bells, do you mind taking this to my brother? He's in there working, I think, unless he got busy with his girlfriend or something."

I blushed unintentionally and shook my head. "Emmett, I don't even know this brother of yours. And I thought he was single."

Jasper quirked a curious eyebrow at that last sentence. Em sighed, "This isn't a conspiracy or anything. Just go knock on the door and hand him the food."

Why did I have to agree to Emmett's request? Maybe I just couldn't say no. That would explain a few things. It's most likely why I just had accept to be in the wedding too. _I, Isabella Swan have a problem with saying no to people, apparently. _

I was in front of the door, fist poised and ready to knock, when realization dawned on me. I didn't even know Emmett's brother's name. Embarrassed, I was about to go back into my suite to ask Emmett or Jasper what this guy's name was, when the door opened._._**.**

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><p><strong>AN: Review please!**


	13. Intriguing Interview

**Chapter 13. Intriguing Interview  
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**Disclaimer: ****I do not own anything from Twilight. **

**A/N: Here's Chapter 13 as promised. There's a bit of dialogue about the wedding in this chapter, but some of it is kinda important. So yeah... Read on.  
><strong>

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><p><em><strong>Day 7<strong>_

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_**Bella:**_

"Pass the syrup please," I said in a monotone voice.

Mike wordlessly handed it to me. Our conversation was pretty strained.

"So I'm guessing that Jess isn't coming?"

He shook his head. "No. She had prior engagements."

I wasn't surprised that the bride wasn't here again today. Jessica seemed like she was too busy to handle her own wedding. And since we're in Paris, France, far away from home, what kind of prior engagements did she really have?

Setting those thoughts aside, I drowned the pancakes in syrup and smiled approvingly. My empty stomach grumbled in response. There's something strangely satisfying about pancakes for brunch instead of early in the morning for breakfast.

I let out a small sigh. I was awfully tired this morning. For some reason, I spent a good portion of the night wondering about my strange encounter with the strawberry blonde from yesterday.

_The door opened before I could even knock. Before me stood a strawberry blonde who practically emitted an aura of confidence. Emmett's brother really had been busy with his girlfriend. Maybe he wasn't as socially awkward as I'd previously thought._

_I lamely told her I brought food for Emmett's brother, and she eyed me suspiciously before her eyes softened._

"_Thank you, but we already ate." The girl seemed genuine enough._

_She began walking towards the elevator before stopping to turn around. "What was your name?" She asked._

"_Bella," I told her. She told me her name was Tanya and gave me a scrutinizing once over, before walking off._

_Was that the girlfriend Emmett was telling me about? I didn't even know his brother's name, though. That was something I'd have to find out. _

"What are you thinking about?" Mike asked, pulling me out of my reverie.

"Nothing," I dismissed. The encounter from yesterday made me feel uncomfortable and on edge. Tanya seemed to elicit that kind of feeling, I could tell.

I grabbed my purse and stood up. "We should go now, Mike. Let's finish this portion of the interview up."

"But we haven't finished our food, yet," He whined.

He knew to get up when I began walking away. Patiently, I waited outside the hotel's restaurant for a few minutes, until Mike came out the doors.

"I didn't have a room to send the bill to, Bella. I actually had to pay for that." Mike frowned.

I shrugged. "You could've sent the bill to my room. No problem there."

We walked out of the hotel. Mike and I were briskly walking side-by-side.

"What's the rush, Bella?"

"I have things to do later," I lied. "I just want to go ahead and get this done." I honestly just needed a distraction from the mystery of Emmett's brother. I wasn't sure if this interview with Mike was supposed to serve as said distraction. But I'd take anything at that moment.

It was silent for a few moments before he just had to say something else. "Bella, you're still seriously wearing that hoodie?" He laughed. "I thought you were kidding when you said you'd keep it. You didn't give it to the hotel receptionist just in case the hoodie's real owner came along?"

I scowled at him, and he quickly changed the subject. "Okay Bella. Can you at least tell me where we're going?"

This was a safe topic. I answered, "I figured we'd go to _Le Bois de Boulogne Parque. _Is that park okay?"

He nodded. "Sounds good to me."

We walked silently to an empty bench. Surprisingly, the park was a lot closer than I expected. Mike had led me there because I had no idea where it was. I'd only heard of it.

"So tomorrow I'll check out the Triple C building. That's the name of it, right?" I started the conversation.

"More or less." He responded. _Why did Mike have to be so vague? Did it hurt to give a straight answer once in a while?_

"What is that supposed to mean?"

He shrugged off my question. "So let's begin this round of questions."

I eyed his eagerness speculatively, before entering Wedding Planner mode. "Any theme in mind?" I asked.

"Yes. Jess wanted a bold color. She suggested a dark green or blue. How would that look?"

I grimaced, attempting to refrain from saying my true thoughts about a dark green for a wedding theme. Besides, the last few times I did a wedding with that shade of green, the marriages ended before five years were up. I'd call it a bad omen, but either way, a green wasn't too promising for a color scheme.

"Well, it's best to chose colors that compliment the bride and will work for her. I'm not sure how Jess looks in green. But if she wants bold, how about red?" I suggested. "Red is modern, sexy, and I'm sure it would look good on Jess."

Mike rubbed his chin thoughtfully, a habit I see he hasn't broken. "I guess that would work. I doubt Jess would argue with your line of thought on that one."

"Do you need to rent a tux or are you going to buy one?" I asked.

"I'm pretty sure I can afford a tux, Bella," He told me.

I shrugged. "It's just a customary question. Tuxes can be pretty high-priced. And this is just one of those things that I need to know so that I can make the proper arrangements."

"I understand," He assured me.

"Okay. So I'm going to visit this C3 place tomorrow. How'd you find out about it?"

"I saw an article about its grand opening in the newspaper delivered to our hotel room. Jess was ecstatic claiming that this was _the _place. If I remember correctly, the owners are just working on the interior design and furniture placing and whatnot now."

"Oh," I simply replied.

"So..." Mike began. "I see you've kept yourself busy these last... maybe eight years."

Did he seriously just do the math for that? Unsure of what to say, I settled for simplicity. "Yeah. I suppose I have."

"Jessica told me how big your business is now. You all are known for that wedding thing you do all throughout Port Angeles, right?"

I frowned and glared at him. He quickly tried to mentally backtrack to see what he said wrong this time. "It's not a thing," I corrected for the umpteenth time. "I take pride in my work. We've been featured in countless bridal magazines and newspapers. And it's not just in Port Angeles. That's just where we're based. Surely, you're heard of John Marshall. He married Megan Turner in 2007."

"Are you referring to _the _Jonathon and Megan Marshall? The multi-millionaires?" He stared at me as if I had two heads.

"Actually, I call him Johnny. And we still keep in touch every now and again. He donates money toward our business every year. Johnny is pretty amazing. He has the skills to make a whole crowd laugh within seconds, I swear." I smiled to myself at the memory. That was the fanciest wedding reception we'd ever had to create. And Megan, the bride, couldn't decide between a more tradition or modern wedding... so we did a touch of both.

Mike just continued to stare at me. "You really know _the _John Marshall?"

I sighed. "If I had my phone on me, I'd show you his information."

His eyes widened in astonishment. "Wow, so it's only you, Alice, and Rosalie in the business?"

I shook my head. "We have other wedding planners who work under us. But Rose, Ali, and I are a team."

"Didn't you want to be a photographer or a teacher or something when we were younger?" He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"No. I've always wanted to follow under the footsteps of my godmother, Sue."

"Oh..."

The conversation had just turned from interesting to awkward. I felt the desperate need of coffee in my system as a strange reaction.

"So what did you do after school?" I asked to keep the conversation going.

"I'm actually still in school, you know... college? I'm about to start my last year. We were going to wait to get married, but you know how Jess is. Everything is spontaneous."

"Oh that's right! You're going to be a doctor. What kind?"

"Pediatric Surgeon," He told me with a grin.

"That's nice. So um... when will those in the bridal party fly in? We'll need to plan a rehearsal and at least two fittings." I felt like Mike and I needed to stay on subject.

He shrugged. "How about one to two weeks before the wedding?"

"That's just enough time, I suppose."

Mike nodded to himself. "I could do that- let people know when we need them to begin arriving. I mean, Jess is already taking care of practically everything else. She also wanted to browse some flower shops with Rosalie later. But right now she wanted to buy her mother a dress for the wedding."

"That's sweet." I smiled. And it definitely justified the fact that she's missed the first two interviews of her own wedding already.

"And traditional," Mike pointed out. Was he criticizing the subtle negativity in her behavior on purpose? Sometimes being traditional was a good thing, and Jessica wasn't always like that.

"I suppose," I allowed. "At any rate... do you happen to know her dress measurements?"

"Yeah, Jess told me to give you-" He reached in his pocket and pulled out a note and handed me it. "-this."

I scanned over it. In Jessica's small scrawl, she wrote her dress measurements and shoe size and a few ideas she'd like to see done. I'd have to give Alice the information.

"Thanks," I stuffed it in my purse. "You all should find a caterer sooner than later. Oh! And there's the wedding cake to start thinking about."

"Should I pass this information to Jessica, or would you want to?" He asked.

"She's _your _fiance, Mike."

He sighed, but agreed. "So are we going to-"

"Bella!"

I turned to see Jacob walking over with two cups of coffee in his hands.

"Jake, what are you doing here?" I inquired as he joined us.

"Rosalie told me I might find you here, and that about now you'd be in need of a coffee break." He admitted sheepishly.

I smirked. "So you went to my suite to find me. And Rose told you that I was at the park, and you brought coffee..."

"And pastries," He added, holding up a bag that I hadn't previously noticed.

A smile spread across my face. "Jacob, you're a lifesaver." I scooted over on the bench to make room for him. "Mike, this is my friend Jacob," I introduced after Jake sat down.

I saw Jacob frown at the word 'friend', but I thought nothing of it. And Mike now looked uncomfortable with Jacob here, but I continued the interview despite it.

The coffee had a thick layer of white foam on the surface. And there was a hint of mint. Smoke was billowing, and the coffee seemed perfect.

"So how many guests do you all want to have?" I turned my attention back to Mike.

"I want it small and intimate. Close family and friends..."

"But..." I added, knowing there was more.

"But of course, Jessica wants a big wedding. I'm not exactly sure how to compromise on this one." Mike said.

"Easy," I told him. "Make it medium-sized."

He grimaced, but said nothing.

Without thinking I added, "I can understand how Jess wants many guests there. It fits with her personality. But for my wedding, I've always wanted a small wedding as well. I don't need anything too extravagant as long as I have the people that supported me there. Off the top of my head, I can see an outside wedding at night... with candles lighting the way down the aisle. There'd be beautiful pool or fountain of water in the distance with the moon's reflection glistening on the surface of the water, and..." I trailed off.

Both Jacob and Mike were looking at me expectantly. They seemed genuinely interested in my vision of my own wedding, but this was Mike and Jessica's time. I don't usually think about my own vision of a wedding too much, although I help others' visions come to life. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I'm sure I've thought about a wedding and raising a family, but I just don't see it in the near future.

"I'm sorry about that," I apologized. "You all should go ahead and send out the invitations. The wedding is out of the country, so the sooner the better." I said, making a mental note to speak to Jessica about that.

After taking a sip of my coffee, I stood up, signaling that we were done here. Mike and Jacob did the same.

Mike hesitantly shook my hand and nodded to Jacob before walking back to his hotel.

"You know," I said to Jacob. "Next time, I'm really going to have to borrow Alice's Porsche. My legs are tired of walking everywhere."

He laughed and took my hand as we walked back to the street. I hadn't noticed it before, but a beautiful lake glistened in the background. I'd definitely have to bring Ali and Rose back here soon.

"So I'm guessing that was the groom?" Jake asked.

"Yeah. He's marrying one of my best friends actually."

"That's nice. The whole wedding planner thing. You're helping couples enjoy one of the biggest days in their lives," He mused thoughtfully.

"That's my goal, for sure. To make it memorable." I smirked.

"But what about your own vision for your wedding?" Jacob insisted. He stopped walking, making me face him.

I felt uncomfortable discussing this subject, especially with him, but I kept my cool. With a shrug of the shoulders, I admitted, "It's not something I think about often... So you know I'm a wedding planner. What exactly do you do?"

He replied, "I'm a mechanical engineer."

I resisted the urge to laugh as we entered the hotel building and got on the elevator. "Is that a fancy term for a mechanic?"

Jacob chuckled and his chest shook with laughter. "Pretty much, I guess. I own an auto shop on Ocean Avenue. It attracts a lot of people since its across the street from the coastline."

"That's great. I was actually thinking about buying a new car, but I have no knowledge in that field. So maybe the next time you're in La Push, you can help me out in choosing the right vehicle." I smiled lightly.

The elevator doors opened and I walked out. I was surprised when he didn't follow. "You're not coming?" I asked.

He smiled and pushed back the elevator doors that were threatening to close. "So now what?" He asked as we walked to my suite.

"Free room service," I replied nonchalantly.

I put the key card in the slot and opened the door. I was taken aback to find Emmett sitting at the counter, munching on a sandwich as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Hey Bella," Emmett greeted, "I hope you don't mind, but I took advantage of free room service."

I put my hoodie on the chair next to Emmett. "So you ordered yourself a sandwich... of all things?"

Em shook his head. "Not just any sandwich. The deluxe BLT. This is better than _Subway_!"

We laughed and I asked, "Are Alice and Rose somewhere in here?"

"No, it's just me." Emmett answered.

His resulting smile reminded me a bit of Edward's. "Hey Em, what's your brother's name?"

Emmett's eyes widened. "His name is -uh- E."

"E?"

"Just E... That's what we call call him... So um, who's your friend?" He looked past me to Jacob who remained awkwardly in the doorway.

"Emmett, this is Jacob. Jacob, Emmett. Play nice." I told them as I went to my room to change out of my clothes. I must admit, I looked a little tacky in my smart, business attire while wearing a casual over-sized hoodie.

As I took off my light makeup, I heard a thump followed by a loud crash in the other room. They were doing something. I quickly threw on some jeans and a black tee. I tied the shirt in the back with a rubber band seeing as though it was big on me.

When I came out the room, the sight wasn't what I was expecting to see. They were calmly sitting on the floor watching television.

"What was that noise?" I asked.

"What noise?" Emmett asked at the same time Jake answered, "Emmett was only teaching me a few wrestling moves."

I rolled my eyes and a small smirk formed across my lips. "Can I trust you all to behave while I call room service?"

They nodded obediently, so I went to pick up the phone, and placed an order for room service.

I walked back over afterward and comfortably sat on the couch, resting my feet in Emmett's lap. They were watching some French sitcom with English subtitles. It's wasn't exactly as entertaining since I had to read the screen.

It had been a few minutes before Emmett stood up and stretched. "Well, it's been nice crashing on your sofa, Bells. But I've gotta run."

Em grabbed his jacket and the remnants of his lunch. He began walking to the door, but spun around. "Bella, before I forget, I wanted to let you know that I'm enlisting your help against Rose. Things have been calm for a few days, so I think she's about to be planning something."

"But Em, you never got her back after dying your underwear a different color." I pointed out.

He wiggled a mischievous eyebrow. "Oh didn't I?" In a lower voice, as if telling a secret, he whispered, "B, if I were you, I wouldn't trust anyone else's toiletries..."

"Em, what are you trying to say?" I questioned. His warning didn't even make sense.

"Never mind. So are you in?"

I laughed. "Of course. I'll join your side, and find out what Rose is up to. But Emmett?"

"Yeah?"

"Why were you here in the first place? And how'd you get inside my suite?"

Emmett playfully grinned. "That's for me to know and you never to find out."

With that, he left and closed the door behind him. I turned to Jake, "Got any clue?"

He shrugged.

"Well if you don't mind, I think I'll read." I turned the TV off and picked up my book of Pride and Prejudice. Jacob found the remote and turned off the TV.

Just as I was beginning to read, we heard a loud moan. I looked over the book to Jacob.

He held his hands up in defense. "That wasn't me."

I frowned and got back to reading. But then we heard it again. It was coming from the room next to us. I couldn't help but figure it had to be Em's brother and his girlfriend or something.

I put the book down and walked over to the thin wall separating the two rooms. I beat loudly on the wall, and the noise stopped.

"People have no decency these days," I muttered. So far I hadn't even met this guy and I didn't think I'd like him too well. It takes a lot for me to dislike someone, but from the information about him that I'd gathered, he's not the kind of person I'd grow to consider a friend. And according to Emmett, he just got with the girl- Tanya, and this wasn't the first time they were loud.

But I bit back my tongue, reminding myself it was wise to say nothing against this stranger because I hadn't even met him yet... right?

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><p><strong>AN: So in the next chapter, Emmett's revenge will be revealed. But it just may backfire... **

**And Bella will be going to Edward's building to check it out for a wedding venue. Review please!**


	14. Pink Pet Peeve

**Chapter 14. Pink Pet Peeve**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Twilight.**

**A/N: I'd like to dedicate this chapter to ****_shaecarcar_**** whose birthday was yesterday. She has an awesome story that needs updating as well...**

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><p><em><strong>Day 8<strong>_

-/\/\/\/\/\-

_**Bella:**_

Alice left early this morning to go somewhere with Jasper, so I was just sitting on the couch working on my laptop.

We had hired somebody, before we left for Paris, to revamp our business' website. Chelsea, another wedding planner and our employee, had been overseeing it so far. So, I went to the website to check out the improvements. More pictures of our last wedding and events were added.

"Is that the site?"

I jumped a little, and turned to see Rose standing behind the sofa.

"Yeah," I replied and shifted to make room for her.

"So have you spoken to Edward again?" She asked, while taking the laptop off of my lap.

I went on to recount my encounter with him, and how I found out his password.

Rosalie sighed. "That's some serious stalking, B. And I missed all of this? We definitely need a girls' night."

"I agree. How about tonight?" I knew I didn't have any plans, but I wasn't so sure about Rosalie and Alice. They actually had guys.

She tapped her finger to her chin a few times, rhythmically. "I'm free tonight. I'll text Ali about this, instead of calling and possibly interrupting her day with Jasper."

"Fine by me," I told her. "In the meantime, I'm going to wash my hair."

Before now, I hadn't had the time to do it. But since I wasn't expecting Mike and Jessica until much later today, I went to the bathroom and saw that the maid service left shampoo and conditioner. However, Rosalie had brought her own from home.

I knew she wouldn't mind, so I used her shampoo and lathered my hair in the shower, and I rinsed it afterward. My hair could easily air-dry, so I didn't bother to blow-dry it right now.

Instead, I took the hotel towel and wrapped my hair with it. Returning Rose's hair care products to their position on the sink, I stood in front of the mirror.

I unwrapped my hair and let out a scream at the sight before me.

A knock on the bathroom door was followed by Rose frantically asking, "Bella! Bells, are you okay?"

I wrapped another towel around my body and opened the door. At the sight of my hair, Rosalie gasped, her eyes wide as saucers. "Bella, what the hell happened to your hair?"

I pointed to her shampoo. "What kind of shampoo is this? It dyed my hair _pink_!"

She grabbed the shampoo bottle and turned it around in her hand. Her eyes swept over it, reading the contents. "This makes no sense though. I used this when I washed my hair yesterday morning."

I groaned, thinking about how this would affect my day. "God, pink is such a horrible color! This is not professional!"

"Well you already know how much I hate pink," Rose sighed. But she wasn't the one who'd have to sport this look. And the odd thing is that Rose's favorite color is red, yet she absolutely detests all shades of the color pink.

Rose unscrewed the cap off the bottle, and poured it down the drain. Sure enough, the shampoo was a pinkish-reddish color.

I covered my face with hands and sighed. "Remind me never to use your stuff again, Rose."

"Hey! I didn't do this, B. And like I said, it was fine when I used the shampoo yesterday morning." She defended herself, then she glanced sympathetically at my hair. "Man, even your roots have been dyed."

I ignored that last part and said, "Wait a second. So if this occurred between that morning and this morning, then..." I thought back to my conversation with Emmett and how he warned me not to trust other people's toiletries. I had a good feeling that I knew who was responsible for this. And Emmett is going to pay.

"I'm going to kill your boyfriend, Rose," I seethed.

"Oh _he_ did this?" Her eyes narrowed into tiny slits. "Hell no. Bella, allow me." She walked back towards the sitting area, intent on retrieving her phone. Rose walked with such determination, that I had to struggle to keep up with her.

"I noticed that you didn't deny he was your boyfriend... Is it official or something?" I asked.

She shrugged. "We've gone on dates, but I'm not entirely sure if we're actually dating. He doesn't know how long he'll be in Paris, and as much as I'd like to, I doubt I'll be able to see him when we get back to Washington."

Rosalie said this all nonchalantly, but I knew how she was really feeling. She really wanted to be his girlfriend despite everything.

"Okay, so I guess Emmett was trying to prank _me_, although it backfired and _you_ got thrown into the mix. How about a little sweet revenge?" Rose suggested with a scheming smile.

Even though I had originally been on Emmett's side, the prank of turning my hair pink was kind of unforgivable. "Let's do it," I decided.

I grabbed Alice's black sequined black beret to cover the pink monstrosity.

In the midst of our planning, we heard a knock on the door. Fluently, I rose and went over to get the door.

Mike was standing there awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. He stood there for a few seconds just staring, not actually saying anything. I rose an eyebrow, waiting for at least a greeting. "Bella, I -uh- … well see, I was in the area... wait, of course I was. My hotel is down the street. Okay, um... you know how... God, this is coming out wrong... I know I came sooner," He checked his watch, "-okay, a lot sooner than we agreed upon. But um..."

I smirked a little and opened the door a little wider. "Mike, do you want to step inside?"

He let out a sigh of relief and nodded gratefully, before moving into the small kitchen area. I watched as he placed a paper bag on the table.

"Hey Bella, who was at the door?" Rose asked, without turning around from her spot on the couch. Her eyes remained intent on the laptop.

"It's just Mike," I responded.

She put the laptop down and turned around to face us. "I didn't know that you were working on the wedding today. Do you need any help since Alice isn't here?"

"Sure," I responded, since she hadn't been with Mike and I in the duration of planning. "We're just going to check out a possible location or venue for the wedding."

Mike spoke up. "Well, I -uh- brought a latte for you, Bella. I'm sorry, Rosalie, but I didn't know you would be here. But I could maybe run back to-" Rose cut off Mike's rambling.

"Mike, it's alright. I needed to go to Emmett's suite anyway. I know he has to work today, but I can go chill in his suite, maybe put our plan into action." She winked knowingly at me.

I wasn't exactly sure how she'd get into his suite, but Rose most likely had her ways. She grabbed her phone and began walking out the door. "Come get me whenever you all are about to leave."

The sound of the door closing behind her resonated through the otherwise thick silence. I stood there awkwardly for a moment before clearing my throat. "So, how about that coffee?"

Mike laughed and led me to the barstools around the counter. "Here you go," he said, placing the cup before me.

I took a tentative sip, and my eyes widened in delight. "Is this a cinnamon dulce latte?"

He nodded slowly, as if expecting the worst response.

Graciously, I tried the drink again. "You know," I said casually, "I haven't had this drink in years. I never knew how to make it, and I could never find any versions of this drink as good as this."

Mike visibly relaxed. "Thanks. I've been told I could make good coffee before."

I laughed. "You _made_ this?"

"Yeah. I picked up the ingredients at the market on Saturday. I was planning on making it for you as a thank-you."

My cheeks flushed red on their own accord because of this sweet gesture. "I'm touched, Mike," I admitted. "But how'd you even remember my favorite coffee?"

He shrugged. "I could never forget those kinds of little, interesting facts about you, Bella."

Feeling that the conversation was beginning to lead to a subject I wasn't up to discussing, I decided to bring up Jessica, his fiance. "So was Jessica busy again today? She's not with you."

Mike shifted a little in his seat, appearing to feel a little uncomfortable. "We had a bit of an argument this morning," He vaguely replied.

"An argument? About what?"

"Well I took your advice from yesterday about a compromise, and asked Jess if we could do a medium-sized wedding. My vision of a small wedding was somewhere between 30-50 people, but her extravagant vision involved well over 150 guests. I tried to reason with her that this wedding is out of the country, so we may not get the huge turnout she wants anyway. However, she insisted that meant that she should go ahead and send out the wedding invitations. And before I could say anything, she snapped and yelled that this was _her_wedding. She's apparently had this planned since she was a little girl. So I left to give her some time to cool down. So... any advice, Oh Wise One?"

I shook my head. "Mike, I help plan weddings and events. I'm not a couple's counselor."

He quirked an eyebrow, and I shrugged, knowing he was still expecting advice of some sort. During high school, I was known to always give advice to people.

It wasn't that I was always getting involved in other people's businesses. People just seemed to naturally flock to me for advice-giving as if I were all-knowing or something. Perhaps I was just impartial.

"Okay," I finally said. "It sounds like a classic case of bridezilla. I deal with this all the time, so some brides tend to get carried away. Sometimes compromise really _is_ needed. But Jess has a point. The sooner you all send out invitations, the better. Your out-of-country wedding is in less than a month. And I'm sure Alice can help with the invitation designs and all of that.

"And I may not know much about marriage, but I'm pretty sure that no marriage is perfect. So there will be arguments. If Jess really is the one, you might as well get used to it now, and work to resolve the disagreements that arise."

He let out a small sigh, but agreed to work on it.

I exhaled in relief, that he accepted this easily. "So," I said, standing up, "-are you hungry? We can go to this bakery down the street and grab a bite to eat."

Mike reached into the paper bag he brought, and pulled out a few croissants. "I'm way ahead of you, Bella. Is this okay for breakfast?"

A smile broke across my face. "Sounds perfect. Thanks."

"Of course," He replied with a grin matching mine. His scrutinizing eyes fell upon the roots of my hair that were visible from under the beret. "What exactly happened to your hair?"

I rolled my eyes. "It's a long story."

He stretched his arm out and took a look at his watch before smirking. "We've got time."

I went on to tell him about Emmett's prank and the shampoo. And around ten minutes later, Rosalie, Mike, and I were leaving the hotel.

Rose had already eaten. She ordered herself some breakfast from room service in Emmett's suite. They didn't have free room service like we did, so I knew Rose did that on purpose.

On our way out of the hotel, a shrill voice stopped us. "Rosalie!" We heard.

We turned around to see that woman -Tanya, I think- walking our way. I was immediately reminded of our encounter when I went to deliver Emmett's brother the food. I think Emmett told me his brother's name was E, according to Emmett, that's what everyone called him.

"Oh, hello Tanya..." Rose replied.

"It's weird seeing you here!" Tanya gushed.

"Your boyfriend didn't tell you we were all staying at the same hotel?"

Tanya shook her head. "But now that I know, we ought to have another triple date!" She turned to Mike and I as if finally noticing us. "Hey... Bella is it? You can bring your boyfriend here too!"

I quirked an eyebrow. "Mike and I aren't dating. I'm helping plan his wedding."

Her eyes lit up. "How interesting! Bella, we should get together for lunch soon!"

I made a noncommittal reply, and she went on her merry way back to whatever she was previously doing. I wasn't sure why she wanted to have lunch with me when we hardly knew each other, but I figured it'd be best not to question it.

We took the Métro to a few blocks down from our destination. We had to take a short walk to the new building, but it was worth it.

The landscape of the place was amazing. It was also a great location, nestled right outside of the city of Paris. It was away from all the city traffic, but not near the suburbs either. There was a concrete road leading to a parking lot on the side, and from there, a cobblestone pathway led to three different buildings. They reminded me of villas.

We found our way into the main building which happened to be the office.

There was a woman sitting at the desk in the front. She looked up when we entered. "Hello, I'm Heidi. How may I help you?"

"May we please speak with the manager?" Rose asked.

"Do you have an appointment?"

She shook her head. "We just wanted to take a look at the facilities here. This may be a potential venue for a wedding that we're planning. So could we possibly speak to the manager?"

Heidi wrote a couple of things down, and looked up to address us. "One of the owners is not in today. But I could call for the other two to give you a walk-through of the place."

A phone call was made and we took our seats in the waiting area. It was a few minutes before the door near Heidi's desk finally opened.

"My brother is busy taking a call, so I'll just assist you all by myself. You all want to take a look at the grounds?" We looked up to see Emmett standing before us. His look of confusion matched ours perfectly.

"You _work_ here?" Rose asked, stunned.

He nodded. "Why are you all here?"

I stood up to stand next to Emmett. "We're looking at wedding venues. We saw this place in the newspaper and it seemed like a good place to start." The buildings were supposed to be used for various purposes, so a wedding should qualify.

Emmett motioned for us to follow him out the main door. It was as if he had switched to business mode or something because he wasn't making any jokes or playing around at all. As we walked, he began by saying, "Well thanks for considering our place as your perfect location. Our facilities are still being worked on. The inside of these two buildings are being painted at the moment, so I can't take you all in there right now."

We passed the buildings as he took us around back. "Are you guys trying to plan an outdoor wedding?"

Mike shook his head. "We'd like it if the wedding itself was inside, and the reception was outside."

"No problem," He responded. "This area here would be perfect for the reception, if you're interested."

It was cobblestone paved and I could envision tables off to the left and in the center, a table for the bride and groom along with a small area to the right for dancing. It would look better if a wooden canopy covered the area along with hanging plants. It seemed like a good idea to me, but of course Jessica would have to come along to see for herself.

Mike pondered over the area. "I'd have to bring my fiance to see what she thinks, but this is definitely an option."

We thanked Emmett and he wanted to walk us back to the main street. He handed me a business card, as if I needed it since we stayed next door to each other. There were three names on there for the three owners, I figured. I stared curiously at the last name on the card, Edward Cullen. Was it a coincidence?

After placing the card in my bag, I hit Emmett on the arm. Unfortunately, he didn't look to fazed. "What was that for?" He simply asked.

"Oh yeah," Rose remembered before hitting him on the other arm. "You deserved that."

Mike looked a little amused, as he knew about the prank Emmett pulled.

I took off my beret to show Emmett without words why we did that. I smiled satisfyingly as his eyes widened and his mouth gaped open.

"Bella, sorry about that. It was meant for Rose!" He explained, which didn't really help his case.

"You know I hate pink! It's like one of my pet peeves or something. You would've been dead if that plan actually worked." Rose threatened.

I shook my head. "I'm not going to hurt you or anything, Emmett. But you _might_ want to watch your back..."

With that, we walked back towards the train station, leaving Emmett probably scared shitless mostly at the wrath of Rosalie. Mike couldn't stop laughing at it the whole ride home, but he quickly shut up when Rose gave him a look.

Out of courtesy rather than want, Mike walked us back to the hotel before leaving.

It was around 8 pm, when Alice entered the suite with ice cream. It wasn't Ben & Jerry's, but it would do.

"I figured we'd need it," She explained. Alice walked over to the couch handing us each our respective personal cartons. She handed Rose a Rocky Road container, and I took my Butter Pecan, and Alice kept the Double Chocolate Chunk for herself.

"You don't want to try anything different this time, B?" Rose asked while handing out the spoons.

"I'm fine with my usual," I replied. Rosalie was prone to trying a new flavor each time. Alice switched it up every now and again, but I stuck with tradition. I always had either Butter Pecan or Vanilla. It didn't mean I was plain or anything. I just highly believe in tradition.

"So, how was your time with Jasper? I want to hear all about it!" Rosalie engaged Alice in conversation.

Ali sighed in response with a smile on her face. "Oh it was so amazing, Rose! Jasper is quite the romantic. We were going to take the Porsche, but we instead walked along the Seine River for a bit. And at noon, he took me to this wonderful bistro! And to top it all off, we went to the Eiffel Tower. And I'll have you know, it's_ so_ much better in person than it is in all the pictures. Afterward, we walked back to the hotel, and just like the perfect gentleman, he walked me to my suite."

"Well I'd expect him to walk you back here since you all are staying right next door to each other," I muttered quietly, not thinking Alice would hear me.

However, she _did _hear me. "Don't spoil my fun, Bella. It was a nice gesture. Besides, I wasn't exactly finished. Our night ended with a passionate kiss goodbye."

Alice finally ended with a dreamy sigh, her eyes fell upon her ice cream. "Hey look at the back of the carton at the ice cream flavorology on the back. It has personalities that go with each flavor." Alice said, reading hers. "Mine says I'm lively, creative and dramatic. I charm everyone with my style and enthusiasm. I prefer passion and excitement in a relationship. And I require a lot of attention from my mate."

Rosalie nodded in agreement. "Jasper knows what he's getting into, right?"

Ali hit Rose playfully before crossing her legs to face her. "Okay, what does yours say?"

"Hmm... They have it in French and English on here. It says that I have a balanced mixture of charm and practicality. In social situations, I'm outgoing and engaging. In the business world, I tend to be more aggressive and goal-oriented. I appreciate the finer things in life and enjoy being catered to. And I can be sensitive about minor things." Rose shrugged. "Everything but the last part was right. I'm not sensitive about anything."

I sat up on the couch and murmured, "You seemed to be this morning." When she gave me a look, I went on to explain myself. "You sounded all nonchalant this morning when I asked if you and Emmett were dating. I know you Rose, and I could tell that you had doubts on whether the relationship could last, although you didn't want to show it. That's where the sensitivity comes in. It's minor because you should see how much Emmett seems to like you."

She looked a little uncomfortable, and I knew she didn't like to talk about that kind of thing. After a few seconds of silence, she changed the subject. "Okay, what's it say about Butter Pecan lovers?"

"Do you guys seriously believe this stuff? I mean, we're not teenagers anymore, you know." I said, giving them a pointed look.

"It's been right so far," Rose replied.

"Yeah, and it's girls' night, Bells. Lighten up a smidge!" Alice yelled excitedly.

With a sigh, I read it directly from the carton. "'If your favorite flavor is Butter Pecan, you could be characterized as the perfect worker. You're devoted, conscientious, respectful, and conservative. You hold high standards for right and wrong and show integrity in everything. This includes an extreme sensitivity for others' feelings. You don't wear your heart on your sleeve; it takes encouragement from close friends and family to share your deepest thoughts."

I shook my head. "This isn't like me at all though."

Alice glanced at Rose and shrugged. "Some of it was kind of true, Bella."

Rosalie backed her up. "Yeah, for one, you're a total workaholic... Not that that's a bad thing or anything."

And it was then that I decided a change was in store.

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><p><strong>AN:I don't necessarily believe in all that ice cream flavorology, but I did find that kind of interesting. Also, I'd like your feedback, what prank do you think Rose and Bella planned for Emmett?**

**And I've been sick for like a week, practically bed-written. So some reviews would be nice. =) Chapter 15 will be Edward's POV.**


	15. Profitable Perfume

**Chapter 15. Profitable Perfume  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Twilight.**

**A/N: Now we're back to Edward's POV...**

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><p><em><strong>Edward:<strong>_

At the point where I realized that I knew more about Bella through her phone than from the few words she'd spoken to me, I knew it was time to try to give her the phone back. Or at the very least, I needed another excuse to see her again.

I was in the office for the first time, as it had just been finished being renovated. Emmett and I were drawing up the plans for the next building. Once we got the approval, it would begin construction.

"Okay, so our main base is in Seattle, but let's look at some surrounding cities." He pulled out a map of Washington. We needed to find a nice plot of land near Seattle to put up our building.

Perhaps it was fate that Emmett suggested the city of Port Angeles. But within minutes, we were on our phones, contacting our business partners to see if we could buy or obtain a good plot of land in Port Angeles.

As towns go, it seemed like a quaint place. According to what people said, there were many small, family owned shops. And due to the even smaller surrounding cities, Port Angeles was always busy.

I was in the middle of a conversation with our contractor, when Heidi called Emmett's phone, explaining that we had clients that requested our presence. Since I was still on the phone with someone, I told him he could go ahead by himself.

We kind of needed Jasper today, but of course, he was out somewhere with Alice. He even had the _kindness_ to leave a note on the refrigerator saying so. I had a feeling that this would be a recurring thing during our stay in Paris, but as long as I stayed on top of everything, our company would continue to strive.

It took Emmett maybe an hour to finish up with our first clients, but when he did return, the look on his face gave everything away. I could tell from Emmett's expression and demeanor that something may have happened when he went to meet with the client.

"What's got you all happy?" I asked, passing him my sketches for our building.

He looked up at me and shrugged. "Rose was here."

"She knows where we work?"

"Well, she was here for business purposes, and I'm pretty sure this was a coincidence."

I agreed with him, and we worked in comfortable silence for a total of five minutes. The only noise was the sound of his pencil modifying my measurements on the sketch. Then he asked, "So have you heard from Bella?"

It took a few seconds to respond, as I was surprised he even remembered her name from our previous conversation. "No," I answered. "Well I mean, there was that one time at the train station, but not recently."

I glanced at him, to see what he was thinking, as he hadn't said anything in response yet. His eyebrows burrowed, but otherwise his face was expressionless. That was unlike Emmett, especially when he finally said, "Oh."

We worked for the rest of the day and didn't get back to the hotel until late that evening. Jasper was already lounging on the couch when we showed up. I sauntered toward my room, when Emmett called me back.

"Hey Eddie. Where are you headed?" Emmett asked.

Ignoring the use of my nickname, I explained, "Well I was hoping to review a few papers that I brought home. Since the construction of the building is over, we'll need to be heading back to Seattle maybe next week."

Em frowned. "Don't you think it's a bit too soon to be trying to book a flight back to Seattle? It feels like we just got here."

I laughed a dry laugh. "We weren't going to stay too long anyway. And we're running a business now. Our top priority is our new company. So we need to go to Port Angeles to settle the deal, so we can put up another building."

"Whoa what?" Jasper finally spoke up, "Port Angeles? What's going on?" He walked over to to the fridge in the kitchen, rummaging around through the shelves. Jasper was most likely half-listening to the conversation.

I explained, "We're looking to buy a plot of land in Port Angeles, Washington."

"Don't be so irrational, Edward," Emmett said, pushing me back into the sitting area. "Besides, you'd need your phone before we go anywhere. Let's talk this through and decide after a couple of days."

I gave it a little thought and agreed that I'd just broach the subject later.

Emmett took a seat on the couch and gestured to the recliner next to the couch. "Have a seat, Eddie. Stop thinking about work."

Grudgingly, I sat on the chair, wanting to get this over with. "I'm surprised you all aren't out with your girlfriends or something."

"They're having female bonding or some shit, so we're stuck with you," Emmett replied with a smirk.

"Ouch," I muttered. "So what am I supposed to do, just sit here?"

Jasper came back into the room, and tossed a couple of beers to us. "Drink up," He merely said. His phone beeped, signaling a text message. Jasper took a seat next to Emmett, and pulled his phone out of his pocket to read the message. A smirk played on his face. "New plans. Change out of those suits, guys. We're going to a club in downtown Paris."

* * *

><p>An hour later, the taxi was pulling up this cross between a Parisian bar and a club. "So why exactly are we here?" Emmett asked, voicing my thoughts. We were trailing behind Jasper into the place. French club music played, filling the place with the bass.<p>

"We're here because of that," Jasper replied, pointing toward a crowd of men surrounding a girl dancing on one of the tables. She was wearing a very tempting, short, red strapless dress. It was form fitting, as if made for her, and it left _little_ to the imagination. The curves of her legs drew me in, and I found myself mesmerized. Her hips swayed to the beat of the music, and I had to struggled to keep my eyes up. I was about to watch her face instead of her hips, when I realized the hair that framed her face was a bright pink.

"Shit," Emmett muttered. "Pink hair... Is that Bella?"

"I _think _so, but Bella doesn't have pink hair. And she would never dance like that!" Jasper exclaimed, watching the girl with pink hair turn around. She was dancing with her back to us now. I only had to struggle to keep my eyes off her ass.

I shook my head. "How do you all know Bella? And what makes you think that was her?"

The beauty in the red strapless dress turned back to us, and this time, I got a look at her face. It _was_ Bella. She caught my eye and seductively beckoned me over with her dainty finger. Bella will be the death of me.

I gulped, and Emmett chuckled. "Sounds like Bella has the hots for Edward."

I ignored him. "You all never answered my question. How do you know her?"

Emmett blanched, and Jasper too paled. Jas spoke up, while mentally calculating. "You see... um... Hey Alice! Rose!" He called them over, having spotted them some booths away.

I allowed Jasper to think he was distracting me while I mentally saved the question for another time. Alice ran over with Rosalie trailing behind her.

"Thank goodness you're here!" Alice exclaimed. Jasper pulled her into an embrace. "Bella's going crazy and-"

Rose cleared her throat and not so subtly jerked her head towards me. "What?" I asked, trying to figure out why everyone was staring at me and how they all knew Bella.

Alice pulled Jasper and Emmett to the side and began speaking in hushed tones. That just left Rosalie and I standing across from each other. I've talked more so to Alice than to Rosalie, so I didn't know her too well. I internally debated whether or not to ask about their connection with Bella.

"Go ahead," Rose said, placing her hands on her hips.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"You can go ahead and ask your question about Bella," She replied in a bored fashion. "You get to ask one question."

I frowned, sorting through my thoughts."Alright. I'm not really worried about Emmett and Jasper's side of the story because I'm sure I can get it out of them later, but how you and Alice know Bella?"

She shrugged. "You could say that we've known each other for a long time... That was your one question. And that's all I'm saying on this matter."

Rose began to walk away, but I intercepted her path. "That wasn't a real answer, you know. I asked for how you two knew each other, not how long."

Rolling her eyes, she sighed. "I never said I'd give you a straight-forward answer either, now did I? And maybe with a little effort, and a push-" Rosalie turned me towards Bella and continued, "in the right direction, you'll get some answers."

I watched as Bella jumped off the table, and strolled over to Rose and I. The group of men followed, their eyes clinging to her every move. "Rose," She called out. "This beat is almost infectious! I just _love _dancing. I'm not sure why it's taken me this long to let loose."

_Great_. Bella was drunk. Now how was I supposed to get my answers?

Bella giggled and flashed a smile. I cleared my throat awkwardly, wanting a little acknowledgment. Her eyes met mine, and she blushed beautifully. "Rose, you know Edward?"

Rosalie nodded. "We've known each other for about a total of eight days... Now I'm going to leave the two of you to mingle. And no more drinks, Bella!"

Bella pouted at Rose, and some guy in the crowd shouted, "I'll buy you a drink, gorgeous!"

Without hesitation, I put my arm protectively around Bella. She gasped as I pulled her body flush to mine. Rosalie smirked at us and faced the group of Bella's admirers. Using her authoritative voice, she said, "No one's buying her anything. She's done dancing for now. Go do something else!"

With sad faces, the group dispersed, and Rose left as well. "What are you doing here?" Bella asked.

"Emmett and Jasper brought me," I explained.

She frowned, and inquired, "You know Emmy and Jazzy too?"

I chuckled at her choice of names and nodded. Gesturing to a nearby booth, I said, "Would you like to have a seat?"

Slowly, I took her hand to lead her over there, and I felt a jolt of electricity at our touch. I think she felt it too because she pulled away. It wasn't uncomfortable or anything, it actually felt pretty good. She instead took my arm and pulled it around her waist.

After we took our seats across from each other in the booth, she commented, "You know, you smell pretty good, Edward. I like that smell. If I could, I'd just bottle it up!"

I tried not to show how funny I found her comment. I poorly hid my laughs. "I smell that good to you, Bella?"

"Your perfume could make me a lot of money, you know." It was probably the expression on her face that made me give in and actually laugh.

She pouted, her lips set in the cutest position. I felt the urge to kiss that pout away. Cautiously, I placed my hands in my jacket's pocket, as a way to restrain myself. Bella was drunk. I wouldn't do anything to take advantage of her. I didn't know what I'd do if she tried something.

After I had gotten control of myself, I asked, "Does it have to be perfume? Why can't it be something manly like cologne?"

She shrugged. "Fine. We'll make some Edward cologne, and it'll smell really good. And I'm keeping most of the profits, just so you know."

Bella was so drunk. Before I could make a quick retort, she called a bartender over. "Can I get a glass of Sea Breeze on the rocks?"

He nodded and said, "For you, it'll be on the house. We never have this place so full!"

I raised an eyebrow at Bella, as he left. "Rosalie said you weren't to have anymore alcohol."

"What Rose doesn't know won't hurt her. Live a little Edward," She giggled. Even Bella wasn't so focused on work. Tonight she was really easygoing, although that could've easily been the alcohol. Either way, I needed to relax some more.

I cleared my mind of all other thoughts and focused on the beautiful girl before me. I found myself missing the chocolate brown of her hair. "So Bella, why is your hair such a vibrant pink color?"

Her eyes narrowed as she said, "Emmett."

She had no need to say anything else because I knew my brother well. I felt pity for Bella, but she didn't seem to care about the pink color, so I tried not to.

The bartender returned with her drink and asked if I wanted anything. I declined, wanting to remain sober tonight.

Bella sipped her drink through the straw, tracing the salt on the rim of the glass. "I should give you back your phone, but I'm not sure I want to. It ensures that I have another chance to see you. Sorry if you need it or anything, but I'm not giving it up so soon." She slurred.

I chuckled, realizing that we had the same thoughts.

"The icecream told me that I need to let loose more," She told me.

"The icecream?" I questioned.

"Icecream flavorology. I'm too much of a workaholic. I need to relax, so I'm here. And I want to try something if that's okay with you." Towards the end, her words became as soft as a whisper.

Bella bit her lip and shyly met my gaze. Without any warning, she leaned in, and pressed her lips to mine, kissing me softly. I didn't think Bella was that bold, even though I too imagined what it would be like to kiss her. And it was better than I imagined. I could taste her on my lips. Slowly, began to kiss her back, forgetting how drunk she was and how I had promised to myself that I wouldn't do anything to take advantage of her drunken state. Although, she did kiss me first. I stopped over-analyzing the situation and just allowed myself the moment that we were in.

Then all too soon, she pulled away, and that shy smile was on her face again. She giggled loudly. "I've been wanting to do that. I can still almost feel your lips on mine still... You're such a good kisser."

I tried not to laugh at the compliment. She resumed drinking her vodka, and I felt like we were being watched. I turned my head to see four pairs of eyes on us. Rose, Alice, Emmett, and Jasper were watching us intently from where they were dancing.

Bella followed my eyes, and blurted, "You want to dance?"

It was funny how Bella was calling the shots here. I couldn't deny her a dance though. I allowed her to lead me to the floor.

The song changed to a fast beat one. She began grinding against me, and I focused on the moment that we were in, abandoning all thoughts to focus on her again.

After what felt like hours, Alice came up and tapped Bella on the shoulder. "I hate to interrupt, but we must be on our way."

Bella sighed and leaned closer to me again. I thought our lips would meet, but she simply kissed my cheek. Then she laughed a little more.

Upon Emmett's request, I hailed a cab for them. I didn't understand why we needed separate cabs if Alice and Rose stayed at the same hotel. I figured that Bella must be staying somewhere else, so they had to make sure she got in okay since she wasn't too sober.

As we waited for the taxi driver to pull the cab over to the curb, Bella shivered. As a gentleman, I took my jacket off and wrapped it around her. She smiled gratefully at me.

Alice and Rosalie entered the cab leaving Bella standing beside me. After a lingering wave, she got inside the cab, and I closed the door behind her. The cab took off down the street, and I continued to focus on Bella. I could still feel her lips on my skin.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Review please!**


	16. Stupid Spy

**Chapter 16.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Twilight.**

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter! Sorry this took so long.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Day 9<strong>_

(\_/)

( ' . ' )

(")_(")

_**Bella:**_

I woke up with the worst hangover ever. I winced, rolling over on my side. My head was pounding, and suddenly I didn't feel too well.

"Alice," I groaned, hoping she was in the room. "Trashcan."

I heard her footsteps grab the can and run over to me. "You know that if you vomit on any of these hotel sheets, we'll most likely have to pay extra. This bill is already going to be expensive for Jessica. Let's make sure you don't miss the trash can, Bella." Alice said, placing the bin on the floor beside the bed.

Unfortunately, I spent those next two hours emptying my stomach. Alice even held up my hair for me like a good friend. Though, Rose didn't want to be in the room while all of this was occurring.

A knock sounded from the other side of our bedroom door. "We have to meet Jessica around noon, so you have to get up soon," Rose told us.

"Here, drink this water," Alice mumbled, handing me a couple of bottles.

"All of it?" I questioned.

"Well you want to get better, don't you?" She walked over to the dresser, and began going through my clothes. "I researched on the internet for some remedies and I read that you have to drink a lot of water and juice. And the orange juice in the mini-fridge costs extra money, so I figured water _has _to be the best natural cure for a hangover, you know?"

She laid out some black stockings, a white blouse, and a black pencil skirt. "Ooh! This scarf would go nicely with that!" Alice found some accessories from her belongings and added them to the pile of things for me to wear.

"Now get moving! We've got to be in downtown Paris in twenty minutes!" She yelled, snapping her fingers in an attempt to motivate me to move.

Thirty minutes later, we found ourselves at a book store where we were supposed to meet up with Jessica. She called Rosalie to let her know that she was running late. So we had to sit outside of the store, waiting for Jess to catch a train.

It was a little too bright for me, with the sun out today. "Are you sensitive to light or something, Bella?" Alice asked.

I nodded, groaning. Rosalie muttered. "You really do have the worst hangovers."

"Maybe I should just stop drinking to the point of intoxication," I suggested, closing my eyes.

Alice laughed. "No way. Drunk Bella is the best! You're so hilarious!"

"Sometimes she's hilarious," Rosalie agreed, "And sometimes, she's out of control."

My eyes fluttered open, and I raised an eyebrow. "And what is that supposed to mean, Rose?"

They pulled me to my feet, ushering me inside the bookstore. It wasn't as big as some of the bookstores in the U.S. This store was quaint and most likely family-owned. "We'll explain all of what happened last night, if you want," Rosalie told me.

I groaned. "It was that bad?"

"You were dancing on tables..."

"Are you kidding me?" My eyes widened. Yeah, I'm done with alcoholic beverages for a while.

"You might want to take a seat," Alice advised, pulling me down into a chair.

From where I was seated, I saw a head of bronze hair walking past the bookshop. Naturally, it reminded me of Edward. "Did you all see that?" I asked, pointing out of the window.

"See what?" They questioned, following my line of sight.

I frowned. "I could've sworn I just saw someone who looked like Edward."

Alice smiled sympathetically. "Yes, that's kind of what we need to talk about."

Rose picked up from there. "So last night, as you know, we were supposed to have our girl's night. It started off with us eating icecream, and we were reading the icecream flavorology. If you ask me, I think you took yours a little too seriously because next thing we know, you're suggesting that we go to the club. And you got a little drunk on the way there and..."

"What does this all have to do with Edward?" I asked.

At that moment, Rose's phone rang. It was Jessica saying that she got off of the train and was headed to the flower shop for floral arrangements a few stores down. Our agenda for today consisted of getting Jess to decide on her flowers for her bouquet at the wedding, so we could get everything ordered.

"We'll finish this conversation later," Alice decided, looking around the small shop. "Did anyone need to get anything here before we leave?"

I thought about it and decided that I'd need to get an English to French dictionary, so that I'd be able to get around better here. Rose bought it for me, and we were on our way.

"Bella!" Jessica greeted, with a huge smile on her face. She ran to hug us.

"How's it going with Mike?" I asked cautiously.

She crossed her arms across her chest. "He told you about that?"

I nodded. "He might have mentioned it when we talked yesterday. I didn't really want to get pulled into the argument though."

"Well he came to our hotel suite that afternoon, agreeing that we need to go ahead and send out the invitations. He didn't even _try_ to argue or anything. And then, I kind of apologized for yelling at him earlier. I mean, he didn't do anything to warrant it, I just like really want this wedding to be perfect!" She explained, talking rapidly.

"At least you all worked it out," Rose said. She walked over to the woman at the counter to tell her we needed a floral arrangement for the wedding.

"Yeah. But um, Bella your hair is pink," Jess pointed out, staring at my hair.

I shrugged, not knowing what to say since she just stated the obvious. After a few seconds, I retorted, "I realize that."

"Oh!" Rose said from the front of the store. "That reminds me. B, we've got to get Emmett back for that. And I have something in mind..."

"I think I'll help," Alice decided. "This doesn't really involve me, but it sure sounds like fun!"

"What do you have in mind?" I asked Rose.

"Just a little sweet revenge. You'll see." Rosalie grinned evilly before turning to speak with the lady.

About an hour later, Jessica had finally settled on an arrangement, Black Forest red roses along with pink calla lilies. An elegant red ribbon tied them together nicely. The group parted outside of flower shop. Alice and Rosalie went with Jessica back to her hotel to work on getting those invitations out tomorrow. They were going to order some and pay extra money to make sure the invitations arrived tomorrow, so that they can be sent out.

I was going back to my hotel, feeling drowsy from the hangover. Alice's main concern was if I could make it back in my condition. However, I assured her that I was alright.

On my way to the train station, I saw the familiar bronze hair yet again, walking through a crowd a few blocks ahead. I picked up my pace, wanting to find out if that really was Edward. I lost him at one point, only to see him go into a bakery shop around the corner.

It sure looked like him from the side. Angular cheekbones, strong jawline, and a crooked smile was playing on his enticing lips. Then a memory hit me like a ton of bricks. What happened last night became clearer to me, and I realized that I was drunker than I thought I was. I had kissed Edward... and barely remembered it.

I wasn't mad at myself for giving in and kissing him, as it was something I think I've been wanting to do. I was just pissed that I couldn't even remember much of it, how it would've felt to have his lips on mine.

By the time I made it inside of the bakery, I couldn't find him anywhere. No one was even at the counter or the display of baked goods. I waited about a minute, but not a soul was in the room.

Albeit a little strange, I shrugged it off, figuring that I must've been hallucinating or something.

The train ride back to my hotel didn't involve anything interesting. When I walked into the hotel lobby, I ran into Tanya. I _literally_ ran into her. I was focusing on my phone, and she was looking through a folder, and neither one of us were paying attention when we bumped into each other. When we ran into each other, her manilla folder dropped, spilling pictures all over the place.

"Sorry about that, Bella," Tanya said, bending down to retrieve her items.

I helped her out, handing her a few photos. Looking at one of them closely, I realized these were of Tanya... posing in lingerie. _What the hell? _"Tanya, um what are these pictures?"

Her eyes widened and she quickly took them from my hands. "This isn't really supposed to get out right now. The pictures will be released in the next _Victoria's Secret_ catalog. This is from a photo shoot that we were doing in Paris about a week ago. Sorry, but my bosses will have my ass if they found out that you saw these pictures."

I frowned. "You do look a little familiar now that you mention it. You're a_ Victoria's Secret_ Angel, aren't you?" I asked, surprising myself at the knowledge I learned from Alice. "Tanya Denali, I presume."

"Yep," She nodded. "Are you busy right now? We could do lunch, if you'd like."

"Sure," I agreed.

"Lunch is on me." She said. "Have you been to the restaurant across the street? The food is heavenly!" Tanya sighed, pulling me along with her.

I shook my head. "I've yet to try it."

"Well there's a first time for everything." Tanya and I walked out of the hotel, and crossed the street. The restaurant looked pretty classy, but it wasn't formal attire required. The maitre d' showed us to our table.

I perused the menu. "Any suggestions on what to order?" I asked Tanya, since she's been here before.

"Whenever I'm in Paris, I just have to come to this restaurant and order the escargot and the basil salmon terrine. The salmon is seasoned to perfection." She gushed, glancing over the menu.

Our salads came and we ordered our main course, along with some fancy red wine that Tanya wanted. I decided to just order what she recommended, and it turned out to be really good.

The food disappeared from our plates as quickly as it arrived and Tanya groaned. "I don't usually indulge like this." She admitted. "I can't really."

"All part of being a model?"

She nodded. "I don't regret anything though. I never do. I enjoy my job. It's just that sometimes I would really _love _to just eat whatever I want, when I want."

"And you can't do that, and just lose some calories later?" I asked, actually feeling a little sorry for her.

"No," Tanya shook her head. "It's too much of a hassle. Sometimes it's hard to lose some pounds. I mean, I'm not slim to the point of being sick, you know? I have a figure, and I'm not like other models."

"Well I'm sure being a model has its benefits. You get to travel all over." I smiled, trying to cheer her up.

"And as much as I enjoy that, my favorite place to be is at my loft back home in Chicago, snuggled up on my couch watching old movies with my sisters and my best friend." She sighed wistfully, a genuine smile warming her face. "It sounds strange, I know. But I love those normal times."

"I know what you mean," I told her.

"I like the pink hair, Bella. It's a bold fashion statement."

"Well you're the first," I laughed. I was contemplating dying my hair back brown, but I figured that I'd let it just naturally go back to its hair color, instead of using more dye.

She frowned, and changed the subject. "I didn't mean to burden you with my small troubles, Bella."

"It's no problem. Sometimes it's good to have someone to talk to." I replied. "Thanks for lunch though."

"Of course. Maybe we can do it again sometime." Tanya paid the bill, and we went our separate ways after leaving the restaurant. I went back into the hotel, whereas she continued down the street off to someplace else.

* * *

><p>I caught up on some of my reading for a few hours, until Rose came in, along with a very excited Alice. Rosalie slammed the door behind them. "Hurry up B, and get dressed. We're eating out at a fancy restaurant with the guys. Formal attire is needed."<p>

I groaned, placing my old book onto the couch beside me. "But I just ate not too long ago."

"Who cares?" Rose replied, pulling me off the couch. "Alice, help Bella with her hair and makeup. We're going to get our revenge on Emmett at dinner tonight."

My curiosity was peaked. "Oh really? What are we doing?"

She wagged her index finger at me, and pointed to my room. "Get dressed first, questions later."

"Oh c'mon Bella. It'll be worth it in the end." Alice told me, leading me to our room. She closed the door behind us.

I took a seat at the foot of my bed. "You have free reign of my luggage, Alice. Find whatever dress you want in there." As she began rummage through my items, I glanced down at the jacket on my bed. It looked kind of manly, so I knew it wasn't either of ours. "Hey Ali, is this Jasper's jacket?"

She looked back at the jacket. "Nope. That's Edward's. He gave it to you last night."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"Yeah, I think he was trying to be romantic."

I brought the jacket a little closer to my face, inhaling his smell. I had a faint memory of wanting to bottle up the smell to make money. I wondered what that was all about. And the smell of the jacket from last night seemed awfully familiar. I got up, walking over to the dresser. I pulled the hoodie out from one of the drawers, and took a small sniff.

"Alice, you think this hoodie could be Edward's too?" I asked.

She shrugged. "It's possible. We all stay in the same area, and you did find the hoodie outside of our hotel."

Although the hoodie's cologne was kind of faded by now, I was so sure that the it had to be his as well. So now I had three items of Edward's, his phone, his jacket, and his hoodie.

"And how exactly do you know Edward?"

Without looking up to meet my eyes, Alice responded, "As I said, we all stay in the same area. I've... run into him a few times before. And Emmett and Jasper know Edward as well." Before I could reply she thrust a dress into my hands. "Here," She said, "wear this."

I donned the black halter dress she gave me. It had a keyhole design in the front. Although it wasn't the kind of dress that I was used to wearing, at this point I didn't care too much. Alice gave me a beret that she bought for me while she was out today. It was black and similar to the one that she had. I thanked her, and added a necklace to complete the look.

Alice did my makeup, applying some eyeshadow and lipstick. And she curled my pink hair, and it cascaded nicely down my back.

I went into Rose's room to borrow one of her clutches and a pair of heels. "Bring your camera," Rose told me, as she finished getting ready. I wasn't sure why we needed it, but I complied.

We took Alice's porsche to a restaurant across from the Seine River in the heart of Paris. There, we met up with the guys, namely Emmett and Jasper. "Where's your roommate?" I asked them once we reached the table.

"Oh he's busy being a social recluse," Jasper answered, laughing. "Actually... I have no idea where he is. He said he had to cancel some previous arrangements, but he'd try to come later if he's able to."

The waiter came around to take our orders. I ended up ordering a dish that I couldn't pronounce because the description of it seemed pretty good. That French- English dictionary I bought earlier really came in handy.

Emmett laughed. "Well maybe he's with Tanya."

"I don't know," Jasper replied. "He said he'd have to _cancel _plans. Why would he cancel on her?"

"Well I saw Tanya earlier." I spoke up.

Alice looked confused. "You saw her?"

I nodded. "We had lunch together at the restaurant across from the hotel." I glanced the faces they were making. "What? Do you all not like her? She seemed alright to me."

"She's... okay." Rose responded. "She's just not good for Emmett's brother. They aren't too compatible."

"Am I ever going to meet this infamous brother?" I asked, with a sigh. "He better show up tonight."

They all erupted into laughter and our food arrived. Two policemen caught my attention. The men were talking to the maitre d' at the front of the small restaurant. They looked in our direction, staring at Emmett.

Rosalie was sitting next to me, so I tapped her leg underneath the table. I discreetly gestured to the men at the front.

She mouthed, "Relax. Play along."

The police officers came over, clearing their throats to get our attention. With a voice thickly laced with a French accent, one of the men said, "I need for you all to stand up. Put your things down. I must be able to see your hands."

Although his directions weren't in clear English, we could understand the gist of it.

"What's going on?" Emmett asked.

"You," They pointed in his direction. "Do you speak French?"

Emmett's face was one of confusion. "No..."

"There is a man who fits your build and description, a person guilty of espionage from the Americas. We've been following you, as you're the main lead we have on the man. As it turns out, the records along with your passport make it seem like you are here with a building permit. We did research, and the permit you claim to have is fake."

Jasper shook his head. "No... our permit is real. We have the papers to prove it!"

"Do you have papers on you?" The officer asked.

Jazz was quiet. Emmett seemed enraged. "Look," Em said, "I don't know what you're talking about. We have a contract. Besides, we had to sign to get a building permit here."

"Mettre les menottes sur lui." The English speaking officer told the other one.

The next thing we knew, Emmett was in handcuffs. Rosalie reached inside my purse, handing me my camera. She winked at me, and then I knew what was going on.

"I think you all have the wrong person," Rosalie spoke up.

Emmett nodded, trying to move his hands although the handcuffs were preventing him.

"He is guilty of espionage," The officer repeated, his words were meant to be the closing of this matter.

"Espionage?" Emmett yelled rather loudly. People began to stare. "As in a spy? What the _hell_?"

"You think Emmett is a spy for the United States?" Alice asked, surprise etched onto her face.

The first officer told something to the second officer. The one who could only speak French, reached into his pocket, pulling out a photo of a man who really resembled Emmett leaving our hotel.

The guy continued, "We had a tip that the person stayed at the Four Seasons hotel, so we set up cameras, and checked the records. We do not make mistakes. You are coming with us for interrogation."

"No!" Emmett yelled nervously. "I'm not a spy!"

Rose walked over to her boyfriend in an attempt to protect him. "Aren't spies supposed to be very intelligent? I mean, look at him!"

Em nodded frantically. "Exactly! I'm not the brightest!"

Jasper caught on. "If you want proof of that, just look at his files from high school. His grades aren't the best."

"Really, who wants a spy who gets B's and C's?" Emmett chimed in. "Maybe I even failed a few classes! You should wait to do more of a background check!" I resisted the urge to laugh at Em.

The second officer pushed him toward the front of the restaurant. "No wait!" Em cried out. "I'll do anything to prove that I'm not the guy you're looking for!"

"Ferme la bouche!" The officer said.

The other translated, "Shut your mouth."

"Rosie, do something!" He yelled.

She shook her head. "Sorry Emmett, but my pretense is up. You have to go with them. When I was informed that you were the main lead, I knew I had to keep tabs on you, to be able to let the police know. I didn't want someone trying to target the French government." Rosalie broke down, turning away from him. Unshed tears filled her eyes. "I tipped them off that it was you."

Emmett looked around nervously, knowing this wouldn't help the situation. And he was still as confused as ever. "_What the hell?_ Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on here?"

I turned the camera that caught this all on video toward me. I spoke directly into the camera, although looking at Emmett. "Well, Em, surprise surprise. You've just been pranked!"

The group, minus Emmett broke into laughter, with even the French police laughing as well.

Rose wiped some tears from her eyes. "Too easy."

Emmett was enraged. "This was all a joke?"

Alice clutched Jasper for support, while we were laughing so hard. I was holding my stomach from the laughter. Rose was trying not to laugh so hard in his face. As it turns out, Rose had set the whole thing up, even obtaining the owner's approval of staging it here. Hopefully this'll put an end to the prank war.

"Next time," I told him. "Don't play around with permanent hair dye."

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><p><strong>AN:** **So how's that for a prank? Emmett's guilty of espionage. Review please!**


	17. Pissed Pixie

**Chapter 17. Pissed Pixie**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Twilight.**

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><p><em><strong>Day 10<strong>_

**=)**

_**Bella:**_

I felt like I was doing a million things today. Gone was the carefree Bella that was temporary anyway. I was back to work, focusing on the more important things, much to Alice's disappointment. I think she's secretly planning to get me drunk again. It wouldn't be the first time.

However, today all three of us were working hard, making phone calls to our contacts. On our agenda for today, we needed to find servers and a caterer. Being in France just made this ten times more difficult. Mainly, Alice and I were retrieving the phone numbers. Rosalie was the one who made the calls. My French was seriously lacking. This morning Rosalie taught us a few things to say, enough to be able to get a conversation going, but this wouldn't help me too much if I were really speaking to a person fluent in the language.

It took me longer to be able to pronounce the phrases perfectly. Alice grasped it easily. No doubt, Rose will be sharing more with her later.

"Ugh," Alice groaned. "Can we find at least one person who'll cater outside of Paris for a wedding?"

I shrugged. "Mike and Jessica are the ones who decided to choose a facility outside of Paris."

Alice picked up her mug of coffee from the table, and put it up to her lips. She immediately set it back down rather loudly. "It's empty," She muttered. "Do I have to make _more _coffee now? I already made two pots of it. And Jessica is the one who decided where the venue would be. Mike's just her little bitch..."

"Alice!" Rose yelled, holding the phone in a certain way to mute the speaker. "Shush. I'm on the phone."

I laughed at the look on Ali's face. She muttered an apology to Rose, and sighed. I took Alice's mug, and put it in the sink. "Maybe you should slow down on your coffee intake. You haven't even felt the effects of it yet." I suggested quietly to her. Rose was chatting in the background with whoever she was able to reach.

"Maybe... or maybe you could start another pot going." She gave the puppy dog eyes. I couldn't resist the power. Grumbling to myself, I walked over to the coffeemaker that set on the counter.

"Please and thank you!" Alice added.

Rose snapped at her and pointed to the phone at her ear. We remained silent until she got off of the phone. Angrily, she threw the phone down onto the floor. "That company doesn't cater outside of the Parisian area. Maybe we should just specifically search for catering companies or restaurants that are centered in Bordeaux, France. That's the closest major city to the place. We could start there."

I looked over to Alice, and she nodded in consent. "Alright then," I replied. "Let me work on a list of phone numbers for that."

As soon as I said that, there was a knock on the door. "That's probably one of the guys," Alice commented.

Rosalie shook her head. "Emmett told me that they wouldn't be in their suite during the day. They're supposed to be at work right now." Suspiciously, she stood up and walked over to open the door.

"Alice, hand me the laptop please," I told her.

She brought it over, and plopped down on the couch next to me. "I'm so tired," She mumbled, resting her head on my shoulder.

"That's what you get for staying on the phone well into the early morning talking to your boyfriend. And he's staying next door!"

I felt her shrug. "It would be too much to have gotten up from my bed, just to walk next door. And I'm surprised you didn't complain at all last night. I hope I didn't prevent you from sleeping."

"Nope," I responded. "I had a feeling it would be one of _those _nights. I went ahead and used a pair of earplugs. I slept fine."

We heard Rose open the door. She greeted the person at the door. I could hear the smile in her voice when she said, "Good morning, Jacob. How's it going?"

At the sound of his name, I turned around to see Rose inviting Jake inside. I hadn't seen him since the day he showed up at the park where Mike and I were to bring me coffee. I felt a little ashamed for not having thought about him too much since then. He was nice enough to do that, and he wasn't bad for conversations.

"Morning, Jacob," I greeted.

Rosalie led him over to where Alice and I were sitting. "Hey Bella. I just figured I'd swing by and say hello." He said.

Rose ushered him to the chaise across from us. "You're welcome to stay a few minutes, Jacob."

"Well... if that's alright with Bella," He replied, looking over to me.

I shrugged. "We're working, but you can stay and keep us company for a while."

"Yes," Alice spoke up. "But first, you must go over to the coffeemaker, and prepare me a cup of joe." We laughed at her bluntness. Then she added, "I'm serious. You're about to have a pissed off pixie on your hands."

I grinned sympathetically at Jacob, but it was a real threat. It's gets ugly when Alice gets angry. Her crankiness is always linked to anger.

Jacob stood up to make her some coffee, and I looked down at Alice who was still resting on my shoulder. I used my hand to brush down her black hair that needed some taming. She was too sleepy this morning to do anything with her hair, and it showed. Right now, her eyes were in tiny slits. They swept over the room, and spotted Jacob at the coffeemaker. An almost feral smile lit her face. My best friend seriously looked deadly at that moment.

He came back, unaware of anything, with a mug in his hand. At the sight of it, I swear, Alice attacked him to get the cup from his hands.

Rose and I laughed at the surprised, almost fearful expression on Jacob's face, as Alice leaned back onto the couch, sipping from her mug. She looked up at him with a mustache of whipped cream and finally smiled. "Thank you," She said.

"Is she always like this?" He asked, taking a seat on the chaise.

"Not always..." Rosalie replied. "But she has a serious coffee addiction. It's no use weaning her off of it now."

Alice just innocently continued to drink her espresso. "Oh please," She commented. "I'm not _that _bad."

I pointed Alice to the mirror that rested on the wall. Rolling her eyes, she walked over to it. She gasped. "I look hideous! And my hair... Oh God." She stomped back over, and hit me on the arm.

"What are you hitting me for?" I yelled.

"Well I couldn't hit Rose. She'd just hit me back. Why didn't you tell me I looked like this?"

"You were too cranky. I don't like to deal with you too much when you're cranky like that." I replied, lowering my voice several octaves.

Turning sweetly to Jacob, she said, "You'll have to excuse me for a moment." Then she stomped rather loudly into our bedroom and closed the door behind her.

"As I said," Rose responded weakly. "She's not _always _like this. Unless Alice has her morning coffee, you don't really want to mess with her."

Sighing, I said, "She had at least three cups before Jake even showed up."

Jacob just laughed. Rose gave up. "Okay I'm done trying to defend Alice. Bella, give me your list of restaurants that you've compiled thus far."

I handed Rosalie my laptop. I was confident that at least one of the places on the list would be able to deliver. My only problem was that servers may not be available or if they're part of the package, it would cost extra. There wouldn't be _too _many guests at the wedding. So, we only needed maybe three servers.

"Hey Jake," I said half-jokingly, "Do you know anybody who could stand in as servers for a wedding?"

I wasn't expecting him to actually respond to that question. So he caught me off-guard when he replied. "Sure."

"Seriously?"

He nodded. "You remember my friend, Embry? He used to work at a restaurant that really catered to the people, so he's familiar with that kind of thing. I'm sure he could get together a few other people we know to help out."

"He wouldn't mind?" I asked.

"I doubt it," He replied. "You can talk to him about that if you'd like."

Rosalie held up a hand for us to stop speaking, and she began talking to someone on the phone. "Okay," Rosalie said after she ended the phone. "Unfortunately, that restaurant doesn't cater. See if you can get me a list of some companies, not just restaurants."

It went like that for the next few calls, and I did more research. Jacob lounged in his spot, without complaining.

Finally on one of the calls, Rosalie's face lit up. Of course, I wasn't able to keep up with any of the conversation, but she excitedly started giving the person on the other line our information. By the time she hung up the phone, I was at the edge of my seat, waiting to hear the impending good news.

"So I spoke to a woman named Emily. She seemed really nice, and her restaurant caters. Emily also owns a bakery in Paris that we should check out. When she mentioned the name of it, I recognized it. I've heard it's pretty good, and I know Emmett has been there plenty of times during their stay here." Rose explained.

"That sounds good," I commented.

She nodded. "And the bakery wasn't too far from where we were yesterday. It's called _Pain de Sucre._"

_Why did that name sound so familiar?_ I racked my brain, trying to think of where I've heard that name before. Then I remembered. "I've been there," I told her. "Yesterday, I was... looking for someone. I went into that very same bakery to find the person, but no one was there."

"Well next week, we're going to meet up with Emily to discuss this more." Rosalie said.

I heard a buzz from a phone. Jacob sat up, fishing through his pockets to retrieve his phone. I had almost forgotten that he was even in the room.

"I have to go," He said, standing up. "Perhaps we could hang out again tomorrow night when you're not working?"

Before I could even respond. Rosalie interjected, "Oh she'd love to. Say around 7:30 pm?"

"Rose," I hissed. I stood up, and walked to the door leading out of the suite. Jacob followed me outside.

"I understand if you're busy..." He told me.

I sighed, not wanting to say no. Jacob was a great guy, and I couldn't understand why I was a little apprehensive about this. It wasn't like Edward and I would be meeting up anytime soon like that. I was drunk at the time, and he probably only kissed me back to humor me. Besides, he had Tanya, right?

"Okay, I'll go out with you tomorrow evening," I finally replied.

"Great," He finally smiled. His smile was different from Edward's crooked smile. I really needed to stop making comparisons. "So... I'll pick you up at 7:30?"

"Alright," I responded, shuffling my feet awkwardly on the carpet. After saying goodbye, I slipped back into the hotel suite. "Rosalie Hale!" I yelled, when I didn't find her on the couch where she was before.

She peeked out at me from her room. "Back so soon? I thought you all would be chatting longer than this."

"What's your deal?" I asked, walking to the entrance of her room. "You practically set me up a date with him! What if we just wanted to be friends?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "He obviously didn't _just _want to be friends." She used air quotations on the word 'just.' Rosalie continued, "Besides I didn't do all of this for you just to refuse to go on a date with him. I mean, he's a hot guy, B. If you don't go ahead and snap him up, someone else will."

I was furious. "Whoa, back up a second. What all have you done?"

She looked around a little nervously. "Well I... kind of... set-you-all-up-in-the-first-place." She was speaking so fast that the words ran together, and I didn't understand what she said.

"I'm sorry. What?"

"That day you all met in the elevator was my doing. I mean, Emmett helped though. We were in the electrical room, and I was helping Emmett set up cameras to take pictures that would eventually go on their business website. And one of the cameras was set up in the elevator, and we kind of saw you and Jacob get on the elevator... so we figured we'd try our hands at matchmaking." Rose explained with a grim face, knowing I wouldn't be happy.

"What the hell? You stopped the elevator that day?" I asked in disbelief.

She nodded. One question ran through my mind. "How?" I inquired.

"It's really not too hard. I mean, if anyone ever found out, Emmett and I would be in a shitload of trouble. But no one else knew, which was evident when they thought it was accidental. That was when they offered us free room service for our whole stay."

I was in shock, and didn't know what to say. At that moment, Alice walked in. "What happened?" She asked, eyes suddenly alert after seeing the look on my face.

I turned to face Alice. "Did you know that Rosalie planned the whole elevator malfunction just so I could meet Jacob?"

Her eyes twinkled as she looked at Rose. "Really?" She asked, a hint of a smile in her voice. I didn't know why she found this so amusing. I was still mad at Rosalie. I could handle myself. I didn't need her to try to find a guy for me.

I sighed, walking out of the room. "I'm leaving." I went to my room, and picked up Edward's jacket from a couple of days ago.

"Where are you headed?" Rose asked.

"I need some fresh air," I responded. They didn't stop me on my way out the door.

After closing the door behind me, I deliberated where I wanted to go first. I decided I could see if Jasper or Emmett were in their suite. Maybe I could return the jacket, since they apparently know Edward.

Taking a chance, I knocked on their door. I heard shuffling from inside. Footsteps got louder with each step. Jasper opened the door.

"Oh hey Bella." He greeted. "Why didn't you just use the room key?"

I stuck my hands in the pockets of my jeans. "I don't have a room key to your hotel suite. Rose and Alice do."

He frowned. "Well, we'll have to fix that. Why don't you come on in?"

I followed him into the kitchen area, feeling a little awkward. He opened up their mini-fridge. It was stocked with American beer. He offered me one.

"No thanks," I told him. "I don't care for beer too much. I'm more of a wine type of girl."

Jasper nodded in understanding. He studied my face. "Are you alright, Bella?"

"I'll be fine," I assured him because he was beginning to look a little worried. "Do you think you could give this jacket to Edward? I know you're acquainted with him, and he left it with me that night at the club. So..."

"Yeah," Jasper replied, taking the jacket from my hands. "I'll make sure he gets it."

"Thanks. Where's Emmett?"

"I'm not sure. He left out at some point. He didn't say where, but E, Emmett's brother, is in his room sleeping." He explained.

"Oh okay," I said, glancing at the door. "Well that's all I wanted. I'll see you later."

Jasper walked me to the door, and I left. I wasn't really sure where I was headed, but I found myself sitting on that same bench where I found Edward's hoodie. I wasn't ready to go back to my hotel suite. There was only one thing that I wanted to do, only one person I wanted to talk to.

I took out the phone from my pocket, and dialed the number by heart. The phone rang twice before he picked up. "Hmm?"

I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding. With a small smile on my face, I spoke. "Hello, Edward?"

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><p><strong>AN: Let me know what you think. Review!**


	18. Drama and the Dilemma

**Chapter 18. Drama and the Dilemma**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Twilight. **

**A/N: Guess who's back? This will be a filler chapter, that's why it's pretty short.**

**Recap: Edward was ready to go back to America, but Emmett and Jasper had a longer stay in mind. Bella talked to Jacob, and he convinced her to go on a date with him. Bella found out that Rose had set up her meeting Jacob for the first time in the elevator, and she wasn't too happy about that. Bella needed some time to think, so she walked out of the hotel and decided to give Edward a call.**

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><p><strong><em>Edward:<em>**

I was so exhausted by the time I got back to the hotel. I had finalized plans for our return. I decided to appease Emmett and Jasper by staying longer. We can handle a few things from here until we need to return. Jasper was the only one here when I entered the room. I had no idea where Emmett was.

"You look like shit," Jasper commented from his seat on the couch. He sipped his beer coolly. I didn't know what was up with him, but he's always been more of a beer person for whatever reason. With Paris having so many wines, I'm surprised he hadn't switched to being a wine-lover yet. Regardless, I'd love to do some wine tasting myself.

"Thanks," I muttered. I ran a hand through my unruly hair. "I'm about to get some shut-eye. Make sure no one disturbs me, especially Emmett."

"Will do," He replied and took another swig.

I barely made it to my room in my sleepy condition. I undid my tie and threw it on the bed, and I removed my shoes. I hit the bed with a thud and was off to sleep.

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><p>I woke up by the phone ringing. With a groan, I felt around on the bed. It wasn't there. I checked in my jacket pocket and found Bella's phone. "Hmm?" I answered the phone groggily. I rubbed my eyes to try to be more coherent.<p>

"Hello, Edward?" It was Bella.

I was automatically awakened by the sound of her voice. "Bella. How are you?" I sat up on the bed.

"A little overwhelmed, I suppose."

"Oh, is something wrong?" I inquired, trying to get her to speak more. I enjoyed hearing the sound of her voice, and I didn't mind that she woke me up.

"Just roommate issues." She sighed. I could imagine the look of frustration on her face. I heard something in the background, and it sounded like a car whizzing by. Perhaps, she was outside. It got a little noisier as she spoke again. "I don't mean to trouble you. I just needed someone..."

I couldn't catch the end of what she said. Maybe something was wrong with the phone connection. I walked to a different part of the room to see if that affected anything. I only had one bar. "Hold on," I said. There was only one bar in the sitting area, but as soon as I left the suite, I had two bars. It could be better downstairs. "Bella? I'm about to step into the elevator. I'm trying to find better signal. Hopefully I won't-" I looked at the phone to see the call had dropped. "-Lose you..."

By the time I exited the elevator, the phone was ringing again. I eagerly answered it. "Hey, Bella."

"Bella?" A different voice responded. "This is Tanya..."

"Oh sorry, Tanya." I ran a hand through my hair awkwardly. "I thought you were someone else."

"You thought I was Bella," She said.

"Well, I was expecting a call from her, so I figured..." I took a seat in the lobby, knowing this phone call could take a moment.

I didn't hear anything for a few seconds. Then I heard shuffling and a door closing. Tanya spoke again. "What is this that we're doing, Edward?"

"What do you mean?" I question.

"Maybe it would be better if we spoke face to face. Are you in your room?"

"I'm in the lobby," I replied. In response, she said she'd meet me down here. I mentally prepared myself for whatever she had to say. I knew that I hadn't exactly seen her in a while, but I've been busy.

Leah, the receptionist, noticed that I was pacing back and forth anxiously. "Girl troubles, Mr. Edward?" She questioned. Her eyes met mine before returning to the computer in front of her.

I laughed shakily. "You could say that."

The elevator dinged, and I watched as Tanya got off the elevator. She looked around, trying to spot me. When we locked gazes, she walked over. Tanya had an air of confidence in her walk. Her strawberry blonde hair was in a low ponytail, and her bang was swept to the side. Tanya's lips were red with lipstick, and her eyelids were black with that makeup junk. It was too much on her face, and seemed unnecessary. Maybe it was for her job because I knew she preferred a more natural look.

"So, can we talk?" Tanya asked as she approached. She placed her hands on her hips and continued without giving me a chance to answer. "I need to know, Edward. What exactly is this?" She gestures between us. "What _are_ we? I don't want to have the wrong idea here, but I thought we were dating."

Tanya took a seat on the red couch, and I sat down next to her. "We are..." I replied, not meeting her eyes. I felt a little guilty. It wasn't as if Tanya deserved this. I was just busy before... and then there's Bella. Not that there's something between us. I just felt conflicted.

"So why have you been blowing me off whenever I tried to make plans?"

I sighed. "I'm here for work. Things have just been busy."

"I'm working too, Edward." She said. "Between fashion shows, interviews, and training, you're not the only busy person." She took a deep breath and swept her bangs to the side. "Look, Edward, I don't want to fight. I just want to spend some time with you. Are you free tonight?"

I scratched my chin. _Why tonight of all nights? _"I have to work," I told her. I needed to call some people about that plot of land in Port Angeles, and I had to make the transaction to buy the property. Because of the time difference, late at night was one of the only ideal times.

Tanya nodded her head as if she expected that. "Just call me whenever you can fit me in your schedule then." She stood up and walked away.

I wanted to say something, but I didn't know exactly what to say, so I remained silent. My eyes followed her as she walked back to the elevator. I ran a hand through my hair warily, and checked the phone. No new voice mails. With a sigh, I dialed my number, hoping Bella would answer. It went straight to my answering machine. _Just perfect._

Maybe I just needed some time to get away and just think to myself. I glanced at the phone to see there was an appointment scheduled for today. It says that she was supposed to be at the Shakespeare & Co. Bookstore. Further investigation showed that Bella had a list of places she wanted to visit, with the Eiffel Tower at the top of the list, followed by a boat tour on the Seine. I did an internet search for where this bookstore was located. Perhaps, I could meet her there. Maybe that's where she was when she called me.

Shakespeare & Company wasn't too far away, but I decided to take the bus there. After getting off the bus, I walked down a set of stairs where a narrow brick pathway was. The bookstore sat nestled in a corner off of the brick road. I took the first entrance and looked around inside the store. There were quite a few people in there, but none of them was Bella. She wasn't sitting outside on the benches either. Perhaps I'd already missed her, or she hadn't come at all.

Dejected, I caught the next bus to take me back to the hotel. Since I couldn't reach her on my number, perhaps I could try a different number. I recalled the number she called me from some nights ago, one of the nights she was drunk. Maybe that's a regular thing. I hoped she wasn't an alcoholic, but most of the times I talked with her, there was alcohol in her system. I'd have to find out.

I called the number only to have some guy answer the phone. "Hello?" He said.

"Hi, is Bella there?" I asked.

There was a pause before he replied. "Who's calling?"

"Edward. Edward Cullen." I got off the bus at our block and began walking to front of the Seasons hotel.

"This is Jacob. She isn't here." Jacob responded curtly. "You know her?"

"Somewhat."

"Interesting." Jacob said. I could hear the curiosity in his voice. "I suggest you try her cell phone. Unless you have a message for her, that is."

I wasn't exactly sure of his connection to Bella, so I only told him to pass the message along to give me a call. What she was saying earlier sounded important, and I wanted to talk to her anyway, if I could. After replying gruffly, he hung up the phone.

I opened the door to the hotel room, only to have an article of clothing thrown at me. Jasper threw me my jacket, but how did he get it? I remembered giving it to Bella that night.

"I forgot to give that to you earlier, and you left all of a sudden. Where have you been?" He asked.

"Out." I scrutinized him while holding up the jacket. "How'd you get this?"

"I ran into Bella earlier."

"Where?" I inquired, a little too quickly.

He noticed my eagerness and quirked an eyebrow. A smirk came to his face. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Bastard," I muttered. I headed for my room.

"Hey, just for that, I'm not telling you anything!" He called after me. I just didn't understand how he met up with Bella earlier. I was so sure that he hadn't left the hotel room. In either case, he was withholding information from me. It was time for me to finally some info. Even if it would take me having to do my own research.

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><p><strong>AN: Bear with me, we've still got a good ways to go. The story is about halfway done. Review please!**


	19. Ridiculous Rant

**Chapter 19.**

**A/N: Thanks for sticking around and bearing with me on that writer's block. I dedicate this chapter to all who reviewed, faved, and followed this story. And I hope you new readers enjoy this!**

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><p><strong><em>Day 17<em>**

**_Bella:_**

A week elapsed. It's hard to believe that we'd been in Paris for over half a month. I hadn't even gotten around to visiting some famous landmarks. I had a list of everywhere I wanted to go, down to the day I wanted to visit on my phone. It felt weird not being on schedule, but I thought I'd gotten used to it.

Jacob and I were supposed to have gone on that _date_ a few days ago. I hadn't necessarily felt like going anywhere like that with him, but Rose convinced me to at least give him a shot. Before I could back out, Jake called and canceled. He must have eaten some bad food or something because he wasn't feeling well at all. I considered stopping by his hotel room to check on him- to see if he needed anything, but he wasn't up to any visitors.

This morning was spent calling photographers. It seemed like either everyone we called had a busy schedule and appointments already planned for the day of Jessica's wedding, or they were overpriced. We only needed a photographer for half a day, but these prices were ridiculous. I ended up calling Tanya and asking if she knew any photographers well enough to ask them for this favor. She told me that her sister, Carmen, was also in Paris with them, and she happened to be a photographer.

The name rang a bell. "Carmen Denali? I should've known. She's a world-renowned photographer. She's shot pictures for various magazines, right? Like European Vogue and Cosmopolitan?"

"Yeah," Tanya replied.

"Wow," I laughed. "Any other famous people in your family? Another sister who's a model or an actress?"

"No," She said. "My baby sister, Irina, is self-employed. She's the only one here on vacation. Carmen doesn't usually do weddings or that sort of thing, but I'm pretty sure I can talk her into it."

I sighed, finally feeling relief. "Thanks so much. I'm sorry this is so short notice. The three of you all are invited to the wedding, of course."

"That sounds great." Tanya paused as if she was about to add something, but she must have decided against it.

"Well, just have Carmen give me a call, and we can discuss this further." I told her. She agreed to inform her sister, and we hung up. Tanya was a real lifesaver. Not even Jessica's budget may be able to cover all the expenses. It's typical for the bride and groom to be involved when it comes to the costs of the wedding, but Jess hadn't asked much about the prices. It had been hard to know exactly what she wanted when she hadn't even been here 75% of the time.

The call from Carmen came a couple of hours later. It was around three o'clock when Carmen informed me that she would be able to do it. She said that any friend of Tanya's was a friend of hers, so she offered an affordable price. It was very kind of her considering her status as a photographer. She offered to do the photos in black and white and full color. So, I could check that off my list.

Mike arrived at our hotel room a little after that. He didn't seem his usual self. He was quieter, thoughtful. I waited until there was a break in my work, and then I invited him to accompany me to Pain de Sucre, the bakery. Emilie, who owns the place, offered to do the catering for the wedding. She was a sweet middle-aged woman who actually spoke some English. They would do the wedding cake, and any other dishes for the wedding, we just had to submit a menu.

It's warm day in Paris today, so I stripped my jacket, and Mike and I hit the city. We rode the Metro to the district that the bakery was in.

"I think it's going to be coming up on the right," I informed Mike.

The streets were busy and full of people, so the two of us had to stick close together to avoid being swept away in the crowd. It didn't help that we were going against the majority of traffic. Sure enough, the next shop to our right was the place.

A woman stood behind the displays at the counter. "Bonjour!" She greeted. Mike's eyes roamed the pastries as I asked for Emilie.

The black haired, middle-aged woman walked in from the back door. "Hello," Emilie said, having already been informed that we were English speakers. She kissed me on the cheek. "You like Paris?" She asked. Her accent was thick in her voice.

I nodded. "It's wonderful. I love it."

She looked to Mike. "This is your fiancé? You are a beautiful couple."

Both of our eyes widened. "No!" We quickly exclaimed simultaneously.

I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. "I'm the wedding planner, not his fiancé. She's not here today."

Emilie laughed apologetically. "I am sorry. So," She clapped her hands together excitedly, "you have the menu?"

"Yes." I handed her the menu that Rose wrote down. I told her I would give her a call later this week to schedule an appointment for the wedding cake. After leaving the shop, I gave Rosalie a call to give her an update when she reminded me of something that I had forgotten.

"Bella, we're in need of music. If not a wedding band, then we'll need a deejay." She said.

I rubbed my forehead in frustration. It was too soon to try to book a band. That would require a lot of work. "Any suggestions?"

"Well, Emmett's done some deejaying."

I stopped walking. "No. We're not booking your boyfriend. This wedding needs to be as professional as it can be. Are you sure he's even a good deejay?"

"Yes, of course. Alice and I just listened to a CD that had a compilation of his stuff. I'll send you one of the tracks. It's pretty good. Call me back once you listen to it." Rose didn't leave any room for options.

Mike and I sat at one of the tables outside of a café listening to the media file Rose sent us. I had to admit, Em wasn't that bad. Upon Mike's approval, I called Rose back, "Before Mike and Jess agree to this, keep in mind that we'd have to buy or rent the equipment for Emmett to do the music. That may cost a lot in addition to paying Emmett."

"This'll take care of one of those problems… He'll do it for free!" She laughed, and I heard Emmett grumble in disapproval in the background.

"Then it's settled," I replied. "We've got ourselves a deejay."

Once Rose and I finished talking, Mike asked if I was done working for the day. We had pretty much accomplished all that was on today's to-do list. "I think so," I responded.

"Good because I was thinking that maybe I could treat you to dinner, you know, to repay you for all of your help."

"Oh no. That's not necessary. Jessica is paying us, and we're more than happy to do the work anyway."

His eyes met mine. "I insist."

"Okay then. What do you have in mind?" I asked. I wasn't dressed for anything formal. I only wore a blouse and a pair of black dress pants. It was a professional look for when we met with Emilie.

Mike replied, "Dinner and a show."

* * *

><p>Dinner was exquisite. We dined at a nice upscale restaurant. Mike ordered us a bottle of white wine and a sommelier matched it with a selection of entrees. Everything we ate was delicious. I was quite impressed.<p>

After leaving the restaurant, we took a stroll down the avenue. "What made you think I'd want white wine as opposed to red or anything other kind?" I inquired.

He laughed. The sound was so familiar. "If I recall correctly, you _hate _red wine. Am I right?"

"Yes, but why do you remember all these things? The wine, the coffee, the kind of things I like." I pressed for more information. It had been quite a few years since I'd seen Mike. I just found it all hard to believe that he remembered everything from then.

"I dunno," He replied after hesitation. I could tell that he wasn't speaking the whole truth in his answer.

"Right. Okay." I said in disbelief. I figured a change of topics was best. "So where are we headed?"

He pointed to the horseshoe-shaped building some yards in front of us. "The Champs Elysees Theater."

After getting our tickets, an usher guided us to our balcony seats. This wasn't some movie theater. It was the kind of place fit for plays and productions. Mike tipped the usher and handed me a program. My eyes searched for one of the only words I could recognize on the page. "This is a ballet?" I asked him.

Mike nodded. "Don't women like that kind of thing?"

"You shouldn't generalize the whole female gender," I scolded him with a playful smile on my face.

"Well, Jess doesn't really like these productions, but I had already bought tickets. I figured you would like to go instead." He looked nervous, as if this entire idea of his was wrong.

"No," I replied. "This is exactly my cup of tea." We settled into silence as I relaxed into the cushioned chair. Our elbows found the armrest at the same time. He backed away and mumbled an apology, and I blushed.

The ballet lasted a few hours, but there were two intermissions. I loved every bit of it. I was pretty sure this theater had been on my list of places that I wanted to go to, but I wasn't sure if my roommates would have liked it very much. Alice wouldn't enjoy sitting through hours of this, despite her mild interest in dance. On the other hand, Rosalie didn't even like productions in general. It was nice to be able to do this, and I was grateful to Mike for the opportunity.

We rode the Metro back to my hotel, where he insisted on walking me all the way up to my room. The elevator was more crowded than usual, so I had to stand close to Mike. I could smell faint cologne on him. Something musky. I wasn't sure. My head was already a tiny bit woozy from fatigue probably. It was late at night.

I stopped outside of my door to face Mike. "Thanks for tonight. It was amazing." I wasn't lying. It was really what I needed. Relaxation every once in a while is nice.

"Yeah, I'm glad you had a good time. So did I." He reached to tuck a few strands of hair behind my ear. "They were loose, sorry."

"Well, I'll call you tomorrow." I told him.

"Goodnight, Bella," He responded. I backed toward the door, taking one last glance at him before retreating into the hotel room. Neither Alice nor Rosalie were probably awake, as they'd stayed up last night until the wee hours of this morning.

I had changed out of those clothes and into my robe, and then there was a knock on the door. I turned on the light in the kitchen and went to unlock the door.

Mike stood on the other side, with this wild look in his eyes. He ran a hand through his dark hair. He just stood there, not speaking. It looked as if he were deliberating something. "Mike?" I inquired, waiting for him to say something.

He finally looked me in the eyes, trying to convey a message. His brown eyes were pleading with mine. "What if what you have is great, but there's something… greater out there?"

"What?" I questioned, not following.

He sighed. "Earlier, you asked why I remembered all those little things about you. Well, I've really been thinking about this, but screw it. Bella, I like you. Like, really like you. I still do."

"But Jess-"

"We're always fighting over every single thing. After last night's tiff, she said she wanted some time to seriously consider whether or not she wanted to get married. With you, things were never complicated."

I shook my head, at him- at this whole messed up situation. I needed to have a clear mind because obviously he didn't have one. "Mike. You're engaged. Stop talking this nonsense."

"I like you, and that's actually one thing I'm sure of."

I sighed. "We should've never been alone like that tonight."

"You can't say that you didn't enjoy tonight."

"Not like _that_." I argued. I drew my robe tighter. "Look, whether or not you all are in a rough spot right now, Jessica loves you. None of this is fair to her. What happened between us is the past. I can't change that. But I'm your wedding planner. If things can't remain professional between us, then I don't know if I can do this anymore."

He looked as if he were about to say something more, but I spoke again, "You need to be going back to your fiancé and setting some things straight, not here outside of my hotel room. Goodnight, Mike." I shut the door on his face, wondering when my nonexistent love life got to be so existent and complicated.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So, this scene has been planned since the beginning of the story. He still has some feelings for her, although she doesn't feel the same. At the same time, Mike and Jess have been having problems, and he wasn't exactly thinking clearly. Thankfully, Bella was.**

**Shorter chapters= faster updates!**


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